


When Will The River Run Green

by Basnatural



Series: Secrets and Lies [5]
Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Amnesia, Anal Sex, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Drama, Homophobic Language, Hospitals, M/M, Masturbation, Medical Jargon, Oral Sex, Threesome - M/M/M, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:32:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 85,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basnatural/pseuds/Basnatural
Summary: The fourth part of the Secrets and Lies series.Following the accident at the concert in Manchester, will everything still be the same for Kyle and Dan?Tags will be added throughout x





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Back again...thanks for sticking with me.
> 
> There is medical jargon in this. Hopefully it does make sense, but anything that doesn't just ask and I will explain!
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter One

“This is Kyle Simmons, 29-year-old male, hit by a coach moving approximately 20 miles per hour. Hit his head pretty hard on impact. GCS was 14 at the scene, but dropped en route to 13. Pupils equal and reactive. Airway patent, sats 92 on air, raised to 99 with 15 litres. BP stable but on the low side 108 over 53. Tachycardic at 105. Fluid running through open, got a pink in his left ACF. Obvious open fracture to right wrist, and possibly left ankle. Neck immobilised at the scene.”

 

The ambulance trolley was wheeled quickly into the large hospital space, and the paramedics continued to spout medical jargon to the nurses and doctors milling around. Kyle was so tired. He knew he couldn’t keep his eyes open any more, and even opening them when they talked to him was becoming a chore and a half for him. Suddenly the movement of the trolley stopped and all of the bustling and activity calmed down. He wanted to look around him and see what was going on, but the darkness was calming and he was too tired to try.

 

He feels someone put his hands on both sides of his head, and the feeling was so familiar he opens his eyes a crack to see if it was what he thought it was.

 

“Dan?” he calls out. “Baby is that you?”

 

“Kyle?” comes an unfamiliar voice and he opens his eyes to look around. His head is held firmly and he feels a stabbing in his neck from something hard as he tries to twist it. He sees a dark haired man looking down at him. He was attractive in a conventional way. His hair was short but expertly styled and he had intriguing green eyes.

 

“You’re not Dan?” Kyle mumbles, almost incoherently.

 

“Kyle, my name is Dr McKinnon. You’re in the hospital, and you’ve been in an accident. Do you remember that?” he asks the man in the bed and Kyle tries to shake his head after closing his eyes again. An accident? That’s stupid. He couldn’t have been in an accident.

 

“Kyle?” the man spoke again to him and he opens his eyes, slowly to look at him. The green eyed man had a soft Scottish lilt to his voice. It made him seem more appealing. But he still wasn’t Dan/

 

“You’re not Dan, where’s Dan?” Kyle says a bit more forcefully and tries to get up again.

 

“Kyle, Kyle! Listen to me, you might have seriously hurt your head and your neck so I need you to stay very still for me alright? Do you understand me? Kyle?” The doctor tries to get his attention, but Kyle couldn’t move any more. He was too tired again. He would try soon, but he needed to rest at the moment.

 

He barely registers when the hands on his head grab hold again, and then four other pairs of hands tilt him to the side and slide a hard board under him. He feels the breeze of the movement when he is slid onto something a bit more comfortable, but even that can’t force him to rise from the darkness and the comfort keeping him there.

 

\---

The nurses fuss around Kyle as soon as his is safely onto the emergency trolley and the paramedics take all of their kit away. The tape his head securely to the mattress and the trolley so it is as safe as possible and start to take basic observations.

 

One nurse starts to cut away at what is left of the jeans and t-shirt he had been brought in with and threw a white and blue hospital gown over the front of him to save his modesty. She then dutifully notes down all of the vital statistics onto the observation chart and goes off in search for a small torch.

 

“Kyle? Kyle, can you hear me?” and she looks down at the man who is lying peacefully on the bed in front of her. She puts her hand on his left arm and tightly squeezes his thumbnail and calls his name again. Kyle finally opens his eyes and looks at her suspiciously.

 

“Hi, Kyle. My name’s Lorraine and I’m a nurse. Can you tell me your full name and date of birth?”

 

Kyle continues to look at her confused, but he seems to take in that he is in hospital and that a nurse is talking to him so he should try and answer the questions.

 

“Uhm…Kyle Simmons, 5th February ‘88” he manages to get out. His throat was beginning to feel a bit dry, and he licks his lips to try and wet them.

 

“Brilliant, do you know what year it is Kyle? And where you are right now?” the nurse asks him. Kyle looks at her again. His head was beginning to pound with all the thought he was having to put into the questions. He tries to bring his right hand up to his face but he winces at the pain the movement causes.

 

“Oh, god!” he exclaims with the pain. “Uhm, sorry, it’s 2017 I think?” he tells her. “And from what’s around me I assume this is a hospital?”

 

“Good guess,” the woman says to him and smiles softly. She looks away from him and at someone who had walked into the area with them. She moves out of his field of sight and he can hear murmurings going on. “OK Kyle, well we’re going on a little trip.”

 

“What’s happening? What’s happened to me?” Kyle asks her, still confused about everything.

 

“We’re going to get a scan of your head and an x-ray of your neck to make sure everything is alright,” Lorraine says to him as she comes back into sight. “You got into a bit of a fight with a bus, so we just have to make sure you’re doing alright.”

 

“I hope the bus looks worse than I do,” Kyle jokes and he hears a huff of laughter from the people around him. A few minutes pass and then he is quickly wheeled through corridors and towards a large scanning machine. He shuts his eyes for a few minutes and he brought too again by a woman’s voice.

 

“Kyle? We’re going to be moving you over onto this bed now alright? It may feel strange, but just relax and let us do all the work yeah?”

 

“Where am I? What’s happened?” the man asks again, and he looks at the woman who had spoken to him and she glanced down at him with a worried expression on her face.

 

“Kyle? Do you remember you had an accident?” the woman says to him, and she sees the man’s eyes widen.

 

“Accident? Is everyone alright? Where’s Dan? I need to see Dan?” he says, frantically, and immediately starts to try and move from the bed.

 

“Shit!” Lorraine curses. “Right, I’ll hold his head and try and calm him down, can someone page Dr McKinnon and get him here now?” she issues orders calmly, like the pro she is and then goes back to try and calm the man in front of her down.

 

Dr McKinnon walks quickly into the room after a couple of minutes, with a syringe in his hand. Lorraine knew it would be a mild sedative for him so they could get him through the scanner as quickly as they could.

 

“He’s getting more confused, Andy, he had forgotten everything as soon as we got here,” Lorraine quickly explains to him, and they manage to get him onto the tray and through the machine without further incident.

 

The doctor and nurse sat in the control room and looked at the pictures as they came up. Lorraine had worked in the emergency department for so many years she knew what a bad scan looked like. She knew it didn’t look normal, but it wasn’t the worst she had witnessed.

 

“OK,” the doctor says as he watches the picture finish loading. “Let’s get him back,” and all the staff get him back into the resus department as quickly as they could.

 

\---

Dan is directed through to the waiting area by one of the paramedics. He is dazed and still in shock from what he had witnessed. He had blood over his jeans and his t-shirt from where he had been holding onto Kyle’s head. He had been the first one to get to him, and he knew that it was bad as soon as he saw him. Kyle wasn’t awake and his body was bent at completely different angles –

 

Dan squeezes his eyes shut and tries to block out the images that were seared onto the back of his retinas from the trauma. He wipes his hands on his thighs again to make doubly sure they were dry, and pushes open the double doors into the reception.

 

“Name?” the short surly woman behind the desk says as he approaches it.

 

“What?” he says, eyes wide and confused as he looks at her. She rolls her eyes at him and just continues to wait. “Oh, sorry. My friend has just been brought in by ambulance? I was told to book him in here?”

 

“Name?” the woman says again, almost angry with him.

 

“Kyle. Simmons?” Dan says to her, still not quite sure what was going on around him.

 

“Is that with a ‘d’?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Simmons. Is that with a ‘d’ at the end?” the woman says slowly, scrutinising the man in front of her.

 

“Oh! No, no ‘d’.”

 

They go through the rest of the details – date of birth and address details before the woman asks for the name of his next of kin.

 

Dan stills. They hadn’t had any discussion about emergency contacts or next of kin, but he knows that if it was him he would want his to be Kyle. And they were now engaged, so it would make sense.

 

“Um, that would be me?” Dan says with a question in his voice. The woman looks back at him suspiciously.

 

“I thought you said he was a friend of your?” she says to him accusingly with her broad mancunian accent.

 

“He is.” Dan says and bites at his lower lip. “He’s also my fiancé? So I’m his next of kin.”

 

“Alright then,” the woman says and clicks some things on the screen in front of her before looking up at him again to get his name and telephone number. “Have a seat and someone will be out soon,” she tells him and waits for the man to turn and walk away from her before moving on to the next in the queue.

 

He walks over to a large armchair situated in the corner of the room which was pointed towards a television on mute on the wall. He notices a sign on the wall telling visitors to turn of mobile phones, so he digs his out of his pocket and switches it fully off for the first time in a number of years. He then stares intently at the television screen. It was set to BBC News 24 and was on a repeat of scrolling information. He stares at the screen for a while and notices a headline on the bar at the bottom of the screen.

 

_“Bastille musician hurt in accident in Manchester. No further details known.”_

Before he was able to do anything else, a door on one side of the room opens and a man in green scrubs walks out. Nearly everyone I the room turns their head towards the noise to see if it was their turn to be called.

 

“Family for Kyle Simmons?” the man says loudly and the rest of the room turn back to what they were doing before the interruption.

 

Dan stands from his seat and quickly looks around him to see if there was anyone else responding – an overwhelming fear washing over him that he was going to walk forward and some other Kyle Simmons was being talked about. Patting his pockets out of habit to make sure he had everything, he walks towards the kind looking man.

 

“Hi, are you with Kyle?” the man says as he watches Dan walk towards him and Dan nods his head silently. “Right, then follow me and we can go and have a chat alright?”

 

The man walks through the door, holding it for the singer and then leads him along a long brightly lit corridor with metal hospital trolleys lining it. He takes a sharp turn to the right and through a door Dan hadn’t noticed and he is suddenly in a small room with a small leatherette sofa, coffee table and television in it. The room is sparse other than that and silent. It had a coolness to it, and Dan can’t help but shiver as he walks in.

 

The other man makes a gesture towards the sofa and then he pulls a plastic seat from somewhere and sits down opposite him.

 

“I’m Andy and I’m the doctor who’s been looking after Kyle since he came in,” the man says to Dan slowly, but kindly obviously seeing that Dan was still in a state of shock. “Who are you to Kyle?”

 

There’s a beat of silence until Dan realises that he has been asked a question and he looks up at the doctor before responding.

 

“Oh, uhm…sorry, I’m Dan. Me and Ky are…uhm together? We’re engaged, sorry.”

 

“Alright, that’s fine,” Andy says to him. “I just needed to make sure you were family,” he says and smiles again. “Now when Kyle came in he was confused and needing a lot of encouragement to open his eyes. We took him for a scan and he got a bit more agitated and upset, so we had to give him medicine to calm him down,” he pauses when he sees worry flick across the other man’s face. “It’s alright! We managed to get the scan and a few x-rays. Now he’s been quite lucky considering what hit him. He has a small fracture in his skull that will heal and he has a break in his right arm and a number of broken ribs. The paramedics thought he might have broken his leg, but it looks fine on the x-ray.”

 

Dan huffs a small laugh out at the news and the doctor gives him a confused look.

 

“He’s always said that he bent he never broke,” Dan said and a small smile quirks the corner of his lips.

 

“Well, that’s probably helped him a lot here,” Andy says to him, but then he falls silent and Dan looks at him with his brow furrowed. “Dan, we saw some swelling on the scan of Kyle’s brain, and with that and his confusion and the way he was injured, we are worried that it might get worse.”

 

Dan stays silent and waits for the man to finish what he has to say, but he can feel the anxiety bubbling deep within him. The doctor can probably see it as well, but he has to finish what he needs to say.

 

“We’ve managed to keep him calm at the moment, but there is a real chance that he might cause more problems if he wakes up and gets agitated again. I’ve had a chat with the ICU consultants and they believe it’s in his best interests for us to sedate him for a couple of days and let his brain swelling calm down. We’ll have to put a tube down his throat to let a machine breathe for him while we do it. But, we’ll need to do this sooner rather than later I’m afraid so I just need your consent to let us do this for him.”

 

Dan looks back down at the floor as he slowly takes in everything that had been told to him in the past minute or so. He takes a deep breath in and runs his hands through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions before he looks up again.

 

“Do it. Do whatever you need to to get him better,” he says with finality and the doctor nods and places a calming hand on his shoulder before opening a door in the opposite corner they had entered.

 

“There’s a phone there if you need to call anyone? His parents maybe?” the doctor tells him before smiling at him again and shutting the door behind him.

 

Looking intently at the phone on the table in front of him he sighs deeply. He picks up the receiver and dials the only number he knows of Kyle’s family and waits for the call to connect.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so its amazing to see so many of you are still here from the beginning!
> 
> So here is chapter 2...updating will be like before and hopefully will get them out steadily for you
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Two

Dan had been sitting on the uncomfortable leatherette sofa for about half an hour before there was a knock at the door and the surly mancunian woman opened it and her eyes scoured the room for him.

 

“There are some people at the desk asking for your friend,” she says to him, her tone slightly softer now, but still with an edge. “There are quite a few of them, so do you want to come out and speak to them?” she asks, clearly intimating that they won’t all be able to stay.

 

Dan nods and slowly unfurls himself from the corner of the sofa and stands up to his full height and stretches out. He feels all of his joints popping as he moves them, and the follows the woman back out to the waiting room.

 

Walking through the door he sees a group in front of him and they all turn towards him when they hear the opening creak of hinges. Everyone is there – Woody, Will and Charlie of course, but also Sharon, Jools, Coop and Tom.

 

Coop gets to him first and grabs him into an all-encompassing hug. He lets go and is quickly replaced by the others one by one and ending with Jools. Dan looks at her face and can see that her eyes are red and puffy and that she has clearly been crying for a while. Instead of pulling away after he cuddles the girl, he tucks her under his arm and holds her to his side for comfort. She wraps her arms around Dan’s stomach and clings tightly for support.

 

“How is he?” Woody finally asks, but Dan’s response is rudely interrupted by the arrival of the two journalists, which moments before Dan was thrilled not to see there.

 

“Dan? Oh my goodness, have you heard anything? What’s happening?” Kate rushes out, but Dan stops her from saying anything else.

 

“Kate, Charlene, I don’t think either of you should be here right now? Friends and family only I’m afraid, so if you can go back to London, because I don’t think there’s anything else you need to see here.” Dan tells the woman and turns his back on her.

 

Getting the message, the women turn to walk away. Dan doesn’t see the older woman side eye him as she leaves, but he didn’t care about anything to do with the woman at that moment.

 

“He’s got some broken ribs, a fractured skull and a broken arm,” Dan tells them, completely ignoring the women as they leave. “He’s also got some swelling in his brain and apparently he was confused when they got him here, so they’ve kept him sleeping and they’re moving him up to ICU for a couple of days?” he continues, trying desperately to sound more confident than he was feeling. He can feel the build-up of pressure behind his eyes, but he was refusing to let himself cry. He had to be strong right now.

 

The group all murmur things around him and he can hear ‘oh my god’ and ‘poor Kyle’ going around him.

 

“I’m really sorry guys, but the room is really small, so not everyone can come in?” Dan tells them.

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Will pipes up. “We just wanted to make sure he was alright yeah?” and he looks around at everyone and they all nod at him. “So we’ll head back, and we’ll ring you in the morning to see how things have gone OK?” he says to him, but Dan isn’t listening and is staring off into space again. Will moves towards him and places his hands on the younger man’s shoulders and ducks his head to catch his eyes.

 

“Dan? Are you alright?” he asks the singer, and Dan just looks directly into his eyes. He doesn’t say anything at all, but his eyes widen and Will can see the wetness in them. Will suddenly feels overwhelming sympathy for the man and he looks at everyone else.

 

“Guys, I’m gonna stay here with Dan, you all go back to the hotel and we’ll let you know any changes.” The rest of the group all murmur their agreement and start to move towards the exit.

 

Jools looks at Dan again before starting to move away, but Dan catches her hand and refuses to let go. She looks down at her hand clasped in his and then back up to the man’s face.

 

“You can stay Jools.” Dan says quietly. “He would want you here,” he adds and she smiles and nods at him.

 

\---

After the three friends had made it back into the relative’s room, Dan explained a bit more detail about what had happened and what they were planning on doing.

 

“I spoke to Tasha and she’s telling everyone else and they’ll be here as soon as they can be,” he finishes finally and as Will and Jools absorb everything there is a knock at the door in the corner and it opens gently.

 

Green eyes attached to the handsome Scottish doctor peek around the side and notices that Dan now has company in the room with him, and his face clearly shows some shock on it.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he apologises quickly and walks further into the room. “I was just checking to make sure Dan was alright and see if he needed a drink or anything before I gave him an update.

 

Dan gives a small smile to the man and looks at the rest of the questioningly.

 

“Drinks?” he asks and his companions both nod tiredly.

 

“Can we get tea and coffee?” he asks the doctor, and he re-opens the door and asks someone on the other side something before shutting it again and sitting back on the chair he had occupied earlier.

 

“It’s just on its way,” he says to the group and starts to eye the other people in the room. “Are you family of Kyle’s as well?” he finally asks them.

 

“I’m his best friend and Will is pretty much like family,” Jools says quickly and Will shoots her a grateful look as she says it.

 

“Anything you tell me will automatically get told to them, so you might as just well say anything you need to,” Dan says wearily, barely paying attention to the man in front of him, who was staring intently at the singer.

 

“Alright, well we have managed to settle Kyle down with the medication I told you about,” the doctor says calmly. “We managed to get a tube into his lungs and the machine is now breathing for him. We are now just waiting on a bed in the intensive care unit to come free and we will get him up there and settled.”

 

Dan nods sagely as he listens to the words. “Can I see him?” he asks and looks up at the doctor pleadingly, eyes wide.

 

Andy looks at him for a minute, clearly trying to make a decision in his head.

 

“OK, but only you as his next of kin at the moment. We’ve also had the police get in touch and they want to speak to you about what happened as well.” Dan nods again. “So if you want to come through now, I can take you to him?”

 

The doctor and the singer both stand at the same time and Andy moves back towards the door he came in. He opens it after a beat and leads Dan in to the resus department. Following the man, Dan walks past the large desk on his right with a group of what he could only assume were doctors and nurses crowding around computer screens and paperwork. He looks up in front of him and sees an enormous room with five cubicles down both sides of him with curtains drawn round nearly all of them.

 

Andy comes to an abrupt stop in front of the first cubicle on his right side. The curtains are fully drawn around it and he can’t see any cracks at all.

 

“Dan, there’s going to be lots of machines around him making different noises all right? They look and sound scary, but if we aren’t panicking, there’s nothing for you to worry about OK?” and Dan looks at him and just nods again. He internally huffs a laugh. The amount of nodding he was doing that evening would earn him teasing for weeks from Kyle, and his chest squeezes as he realises that he wouldn’t be joking with his love for a while.

 

Dan takes a deep breath and when Andy thinks he’s ready he pulls the curtain away in the corner and lifts it so that Dan can enter the cubicle. He steps in and in the middle of the space is a normal hospital trolley with a peaceful figure on top of it. He looks around and sees a divider with paperwork and medical equipment all over it. A monitor with coloured numbers and lines was working in the corner of the area and there were loud mechanical breathing noises coming from an orange portable ventilator attached to the bed.

 

He feels a hand on his shoulder and he’s startled until he looks up and sees a kind face looking back at him.

 

“I’m Lorraine, and I’ve been looking after Kyle since he came in,” she introduces herself and walks Dan towards the bed. “Are you Dan?” she asks and gets yet another nod in reply. “He was worried about you before we had to sedate him,” she tells him and that causes more feelings in his chest that he didn’t want to examine too closely.

 

“So he has a tube in his throat to help him breathe, but we had to shave him unfortunately. Because he has a head injury we can’t tie anything around his neck so we have to tape it in place.” She explains as Dan walks closer to the head of the bed. She places a blue plastic chair behind him and urges him to sit down.

 

He looks at the figure in the bed. He knows in his head that the man is Kyle, but he looks so different in this state. The obvious change is he is now clean shaven, and he thinks quickly that the only way that would ever happen would be if he was sedated or knocked out and he chuckles to himself. Lorraine looks up from what she is doing at the noise, and Dan notices her movement.

 

“I was just thinking that he would kill whoever shaved him,” he tells her and smiles softly at the man in front of him.

 

He goes back to looking at his lover, and the spark that makes him _Kyle_ has gone with him being so still. He notices the cast on his right wrist in front of him and he looks closely at his face and can see the bruising starting to show on his face and around his mouth and nose. He reaches through the bars and takes his fingers. He starts to stroke the back of them and gently puts his head on the cool metal to try and at least get some closeness to his friend and lover.

 

\---

Back in the relative’s room, Jools and Will sit and watch the two men leave them. There is silence for a few moments before there is another knock and a middle aged woman with brown hair and a light blue tunic walks in and deposits a tray with teapot and coffee on the table in front of them. She smiles and asks whether there was anything else they needed and the pair politely say no and watch her exit.

 

“I don’t think I like that guy,” Jools says finally, pulling the tray towards her and pouring perfectly stewed tea in the green mug, following it up with the milk and sugar and stirring it forcefully.

 

“Which guy? The doctor?” Will says to her and she makes a grunt of agreement as she carefully sips her drink. “Why?”

 

“He seemed smarmy. And he was looking at Dan like he was starving and Dan was his next meal,” she tells him and Will snorts.

 

“Yeah, you get used to that with people around Dan. You not notice dear old Charlene this week?” Jools chuckles with the thought.

 

“Yeah, well at least they’re gone now. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise they would be so much trouble,” Jools says apologetically and Will waves her off.

 

“It’s sorted now. I wonder what time Kyle’s family will be here?” Will muses out loud, and notices the wince coming from his friend. “What?” he says to her, not relishing the thought of more drama.

 

“Well, Tasha is fine,” Jools starts. “Kyle’s mother is… _odd_. I think that’s the best way to put it, and his dad is a pushover. But Adam…he’s an arsehole and always has been. He hates Kyle for being the youngest and I got an unpleasant phone call from him after he met Dan for the first time…let’s just say he’s not a fan.”

 

“Is he gonna start trouble do you think?” Will says, suddenly feeling protective over his two friends. No matter his feelings over the past few weeks, he would still defend them both to the ends of the earth.

 

“I really hope not,” Jools says – really not sounding as confident as she wanted to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, quick warning here:
> 
> Warning for homophobic language at the end of this chapter.

Chapter Three

It eventually took two more hours and another tray of tea and coffee before the bed on the specialist unit was available for Kyle. The loud clock in the corner of the relative’s room was showing midnight when Lorraine knocked on the door and told them that they would be moving him upstairs.

 

Dan had finally passed out curled up in the corner of the sofa. He had changed into his glasses at some point and his head was rolled to the side in an uncomfortable position. He had his legs folded under him and his hands tucked between his knees.

 

Will gently shook Dan’s shoulder and he jerked awake quickly and with a gasp. He looks around the room at everyone and his form visibly sinks into itself as he realises the whole ordeal wasn’t a dream.

 

“They’re moving him upstairs mate,” Will says to him gently. Dan looks around and sees Lorraine giving him a small sad smile. She walks over to the sofa and crouches in front of him.

 

“Dan, you’re exhausted. These two are exhausted too. All that will happen when they get him up there is make sure he’s still sedated and watch him until the morning. Why don’t you go back to the hotel and get a good night’s sleep?”

 

“She’s right mate, let’s go back, get rest and we can come and see him in the morning yeah?” Will says to him and Jools nods quietly in the background.

 

“OK.” Dan says finally. “Can I say goodbye?” he asks and the nurse nods enthusiastically at him.

 

He makes his way back out to the cubicle to say goodbye to his fiancé. He walks straight up to the man in the bed, and automatically drops his head next to Kyle’s.

 

“Babe, be strong for me yeah? I love you, but you have to come back alright? I love you,” he finishes and he strokes the younger man’s hair back from his face and places a soft kiss to his forehead.

 

With a last look back at him he then looks down at the floor and strides back into the relative’s room, past his friends and the staff and walks out of the department.

 

\---

Dan wakes up the next morning, his mind a blur of memories and his body feeling like it had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. He hadn’t slept well. He had tossed and turned all night, and had constant nightmares about what he had witnessed in the car park.

 

He signs and crawls out of the bed and towards the door when he hears a knock and he opens it to find Woody standing in front of him. He holds the door open without saying anything and the drummer walks inside slowly, clapping him on the shoulder as he passes.

 

“We spoke to the reception staff when we got back last night. We’ve got the rooms for the next week, so we don’t have to go anywhere alright mate?” he says to him and Dan shrugs at him.

 

He walks over to the bathroom sink and takes a swig of mouthwash before swilling and spitting it in the sink. He pulls his sleeping shirt off and throws a fresh black one back on and pulls on jeans over his boxers and shoves and hand through his hair before putting his cap on. Sitting on the end of the bed he uses his feet to drag his shoes towards him from where he had thrown them the previous night and reaches forward to put them on.

 

Woody watches him silently through the routine that was clearly missing a few steps.

 

“Dan, what are you doing?” he asks finally, watching the man in front of his finish tying his converse and standing up.

 

“I’ve got to get back to the hospital,” he replies, distractedly and looks around the room for his phone and wallet.

 

“Mate, you’ve got to get some food in you first. You’re no good to anyone like this,” his friend says kindly, and steady’s him with a hand to his upper arm.

 

“Woody, I’ll get coffee at the hospital, just let me go,” Dan tells him angrily and pulls his arm from Woody’s grip.

 

“You look like shit man, for fuck’s sake let us help you!” Woody exclaims, and there is suddenly another knock on the door.

 

“I wish people would just fuck off!” Dan growls when he walks towards the door and pulls it open. He finds Jools standing on the other side of the door, looking almost as bad as Dan.

 

“Tasha rang me.” The woman tells him glumly. “She didn’t have your number. They left at about six this morning,” she adds.

 

“They didn’t leave when I rang last night?” Dan asks, unbelievably.

 

“No, something about childcare or getting ready or something. I’ve booked them a couple of rooms here with us so that we’re all together.”

 

“Fan fucking tastic,” Dan mutters to himself. He gets his phone out and finds the name of the taxi company they had used the previous night and dials it up as he heads out the door.

 

Woody rushes after him and Jools follows closely behind them, the woman not moving as quickly as the other two. She had clearly not had much sleep either.

 

“Dan, come on mate, just let me at least come with you?” he shouts as he power walks after him.

 

Dan takes the stairs down to the ground floor, not wanting to spend the extra time waiting for the lift. He pushes the door to the lobby area open and moves quickly towards the sliding doors of the hotel reception. The taxi is already waiting at the front for him, and he walks towards it and opens the car door as he gets to it and turns around and finally acknowledges the two behind him.

 

“Wood, I’ll be fine. I’m a grown up and can deal with these things alright? Jools, can you wait here for his family and if they ring you again give them my number?” Woody opens his mouth to say something, but Dan gives him a stern look and he just shuts his mouth again and turns around with his hands on his hips, mouthing expletives to himself. Jools nods and hugs him before Dan gets into the car and heads back to his lover.

 

\---

He arrives at the hospital half an hour later and gives the driver his fare as he climbs out of the old Ford Escort. He walks in through the glass revolving doors of the main entrance, a different facade to the one he had rushed through the previous evening.

 

He walks in and is automatically faced with a coffee shop. He walks almost automatically towards it. He is the only one in the line and he orders his normal extra strength concoction and then has to stop himself before ordering the second coffee he usually does when he is in these places.

 

“Is that all for you sir?” the young man behind the counter asks him, clearly realising that he was about to order a second coffee.

 

“Oh, yes thanks, that’s all,” Dan replies and tries to give the kid a smile. He taps his card against the card reader when he is asked for payment and it beeps in acceptance as Dan moves to the end of the counter to wait for his coffee.

 

He is served quickly, but he soon realises he has forgotten to ask for it to take away as it is served up to him in a large ceramic mug. He toys with the idea of asking for it to be poured into a cardboard cup, but instead picks the drink up and carries it to an empty table.

 

Settling into a surprisingly uncomfortable armchair at an even lower table, he pulls his phone out and sees a number of messages he hadn’t seen the previous night.

 

_Ella – are you alright? Ring me_

_Ella – Dan ring me now_

_Ella – DC ring me please, let me know you’re ok_

The messages carry on like this until the most recent which was sent about half an hour earlier. Sighing deeply, he finds the number and waits for it to connect.

 

“Dan?”

 

“Yeah, it’s me,” the man says tiredly down the phone.

 

“Thank Christ! I ended up ringing Will to make sure you were OK. Kyle wasn’t answering either,” his sister rants down the phone.

 

“What did Will tell you?”

 

“Just that you were alright, but he wouldn’t say anything else. What happened?”

 

Dan sits quietly for a moment. He didn’t want to say anything out loud. It would be the first time he had told anyone outside of the group - and the bare minimum he had told Kyle’s sister - what had happened, and if he was being honest with himself he felt that the longer he didn’t say anything the less likely it was to be true and someone would pop out to say it had all been a big mistake.

 

“Dan? Are you still there?” Ella asks loudly, still obviously worried about her big brother.

 

“Yeah, Ella, I’m still here.” He tells her. “Kyle got in an accident and is in the hospital,” he says finally and he hears the loud gasp from the other end of the phone.

 

“Is he OK?”

 

“He’s in intensive care. He’s broken some bones, but he’s had a head injury so he’s being sedated for a few days until the swelling goes down.”

 

“Oh my god. Dan I’m coming up, I’ll get mum and dad to pay for my ticket,” his sister starts to ramble on about when she would get there and Dan snaps.

 

“NO!” he shouts down the phone. “No, titch, don’t come up. I’m fine. I’ve got too many people around me anyway.” Sighing again he calms down a bit before he continues. “Seriously, Ella, I’m good. I just need to make sure that Kyle is going to be alright too.”

 

“OK. But if you need me I’m only a couple of hours away yeah?” she tells him and Dan huff s a small appreciative laugh down the phone at her. “And give Kyle my love will you?” she asks and Dan tells her he will before hanging up the phone on his sister.

 

He looks at the cup in front of him and starts to stir it absentmindedly with the spoon that was on the side of his saucer. A shadow falls over the table and he doesn’t really pay it much attention until the seat opposite him is pulled out and someone sits down.

 

He looks up into the worried face of the girl in front of him. Looking back at him are the grey blue eyes of the teen who had been in close proximity and flirting distance for the past week.

 

“Charlene,” he says to her slowly, “I’m really not in the mood, so can you leave me alone?”

 

“I’m not here to annoy you Dan,” the girl says and as he looks at her he thinks he actually sees sincerity in her eyes. “I just thought you might be here and I wanted to let you know that I’m really sorry about Kyle,” she tells him and she goes to get up and walk away.

 

“Wait!” Dan says loudly, and she stops quickly and turns around with her eyebrows raised, questioning. “You can stay for a while if you want?” he says to her. She gives him a small smile in return and sits back down in front of the man she adores.

 

\---

Leaving the girl after an hour, he then walks up to the hospital directory to find where the intensive care unit was located. Finding it is on the first floor he then finds the way to the lifts where he can get up to where Kyle is lying.

 

He gets off the elevator and then moves towards the double doors professing the unit he needs. He opens it and then walks towards what can only be described as a reception desk. He presses the bell and he waits for a woman in a light blue scrub top walking through the door towards him.

 

“Uhm, hi. I’m Dan Smith and my partner Kyle Simmons was admitted last night?” he says to the woman who is still eyeing him carefully.

 

“Oh, OK. I’m sorry to ask this, but have you got an identification on you? It’s just you aren’t the first person coming in today looking for Mr Simmons.” She says sharply. Dan internally curses, realising that the media had obviously been trying to get in for information.

 

Dan pulls his wallet out from his pocket and then pulls the pink plastic card out. He takes a minute to rue the decision he had made to not do anything with his hair that day before handing his driving license over to the woman behind the counter.

 

“Thank you Mr. Smith, obviously you can imagine why we need to be careful,” the woman says and Dan smiles and shrugs at her. “I’ll just go and make sure that his other visitor is comfortable with you coming in as well.”

 

Dan looks after her completely dumbstruck. He didn’t think any of the rest of the group would be coming in to see Kyle without him. He wouldn’t mind if they did, but it would be surprising.

 

The door next to the reception desk bursts open and Dan turns around to face it as he expects to be let through. To his surprise a large man strides through and walks immediately up to Dan. Not knowing what to do, Dan looks around him desperately for an escape, but he finds himself being pinned up to the wall behind him and the man is holding the corner of his Adidas jacket he had thrown on that morning.

 

“Adam? What’s going on?” Dan manages to gasp out, the friction wearing on his neck from where his lover’s brother is grasping on to his clothes so tightly.

 

“This _man_ is not allowed in to see my brother,” the dark haired man shouts out to the woman who Dan had just been talking to.

 

“Wha-? Adam, I haven’t done anything!” Dan tries to protest.

 

“I don’t want a _fag_ like this near my brother! He’s done enough brain washing as it is!” he shouts and pushes Dan away from him and without even a backwards glance storms back through the door and towards Kyle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying. Please let me know x


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys, wasn't expecting to get this out today, but here it is! x

Chapter Four

“Adam!” Dan shouts through the door after him, “I’m next of kin, you can’t do this to me!” he adds angrily, and as the door shuts heavily without the man coming back, he collapses into one of the chairs in the room with him.

 

The woman who had welcomed him comes rushing back into the room with another member of staff – a large man who looked like he could take care of himself if push came to shove. They were faced with Dan sitting, alone with his head in his hands and said hands appeared to be trembling. The two of them make their way out from behind the desk to stand next to him.

 

“I’m so sorry sir,” the woman apologises quickly. “He gave no impression he would be doing that at all!”

 

“It’s alright,” Dan tells her, not wanting her to feel guilty for the way his future brother in law had behaved. “He doesn’t seem to like me at the best of times,” he adds with a wry smile.

 

“You’re Kyle’s next of kin aren’t you?” the man says to him and Dan looks at him and nods quickly. “Well, we’ll ask Mr. Simmons to leave then so you can come in and see Kyle,” he says and disappears off back through the door Adam had used to leave.

 

While he was left alone, he pulls his phone out and finds Jools’ number before ringing it.

 

“Dan?” Jools answers after the first ring.

 

“Get down here now,” he tells her sharply.

 

“Everything alright with Kyle?” she asks worriedly.

 

“I don’t know yet, but Adam apparently came up alone,” he tells her and the door in the room opens and the tall slim man walks out past him. “Gotta go,” he says and hangs up.

 

Adam walks past with the man who had spoken to Dan, but also with his wife at his side. She ignored the singer as she passed, but as the older man walks past he looks directly at Dan and shoots him a serious glare. The threat it implied was clear, and Dan does shudder as he sees it. He watches him walk through the door being held open for him by the members of staff and finds himself wanting to be next to Kyle for protection.

 

\---

Jools arrives at the unit nearly an hour later. She is shown through to Kyle’s space by the woman from the reception desk. She walks into the large open plan space, with areas for 10 separate beds, all separated by bed dividers and curtains. Considering the number of nurses milling around the area, Jools quickly counts that each space would have its own dedicated nurse, but there seemed to be only one bed occupied, and that was Kyle’s.

 

She looks and sees Dan curled up in the large green armchair next to the bed and he is studiously watching each piece of equipment and Kyle simultaneously. There is a larger man standing against the divider, also watching the patient sleeping peacefully in the bed.

 

She glances down at her best friend and smiles as he lies there without moving. The bruising is now more pronounced than it had been the previous day, but he looked comfortable and that’s all she could hope for.

 

Dan looks up at her as she moves closer to him and he smiles warmly at her. She can see the tiredness behind his eyes, and she knows that if she has been having difficulties with everything that was going on, he definitely would be.

 

“How’s he doing?” she asks him, walking over and resting her hands on the sides of the bed.

 

“He’s good,” Dan says, still with a smile. “They said they’re gonna try waking him up tomorrow.”

 

Jools looks at the man – nurse – standing behind Dan. He nods his agreement.

 

“Yup, we’ll see how his scans are later this afternoon, but if they’ve shown improvement we can try and wake him up,” he confirms. He puts his hand out towards the woman and he smiles as he says, “I’m Matthew, one of the nurses here looking after Kyle.”

 

“Oh, oh, hi!” Jools says and blushes slightly at the man. Dan notices and manages to hide his smile from her. “I’m Jools. Friend and co-worker.” The man smiles again at her and as they shake hands the touch lasts slightly longer than necessary. Dan coughs to interrupt and the two hands are dropped quickly as Jools’ attention is shifted back to the singer.

 

“So, Adam?” She says to him, trying to ignore the knowing smile on the singers face as the nurse disappears off to get Kyle’s medications ready.

 

Dan rolls his eyes and uncurls from the chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.

 

“Yeah,” he turns to the bed quickly. “Sorry, babe but I’m gonna bad mouth your brother for a minute,” he apologises to Kyle before he continues. He goes on to tell her about what had happened and exactly what had been said to him in the waiting room, and Jools just listens intently with a familiar knowing look on her face.

 

“Yeah,” she says when Dan has finished, and she sighs loudly. “Adam is…well Adam is Adam,” she tells him, not knowing exactly how to describe the man. “He takes grudges personally and if you upset him he won’t forgive. I never thought he was homophobic though, so that’s a surprise.”

 

“Well he definitely has a grudge,” Dan tells her and Jools chuckles quietly.

 

“You seem happier anyway?” She tells him, changing the subject and Dan nods at her.

 

“Yeah knowing that he’s getting there has helped a lot. Just need to wait now,” he tells her as she perches on the arm of the chair next to him and puts her arm around his shoulders. Dan looks up at her and she smiles down at him and places a soft kiss to his temple. He looks at her confused.

 

“Just thank you,” she tells him. “Not everyone would be comfortable or happy having me around, you know, knowing how I feel about him and all,” she tells him and Dan just shrugs.

 

“You’re his best friend. He loves you in his own way. And I know you wouldn’t do anything to come between us,” he says simply.

 

There’s silence between them both as they sit and watch the man they both love in front of them. Matthew returns after a few minutes and starts to set up the new syringe of medications in the machine at the back of the bed. Another nurse walks over to the bed and says something quietly to the man and Dan watches him nod at what was said. He turns to Dan and Jools and startles a bit when he sees how they are sitting.

 

“Uhm, Dan, I’m going on my break just now, so Terry will be watching for Kyle while I’m away alright?” he says, recovering his composure and Dan nods at him.

 

He watches the nurse’s eyes slide over Jools who is still watching Kyle. Dan not so subtly elbows her thigh hardly and she accidentally slides off of the arm of the chair, making a slight shriek as she does with the surprise. She looks up at Dan with a glare and sees how he automatically shifts his angelic gaze back to his lover on the bed.

 

Matthew rushes over to where the girl has fallen onto the floor and crouches down to help her back up again.

 

“Are you alright? That looked like an impressive fall!” the nurse exclaims as he helps her.

 

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she tells him. “Just embarrassed!” she adds and shoots another death glare at her boss.

 

The nurse laughs lightly and Dan is surprised to hear a deep rumbling laughter coming from the man.

 

“Uhm, I know this is a bit presumptuous, and you’re here to see Kyle…” Matthew starts and Jools looks up at him through her eyelashes and smiles slightly as she waits for him to finish. “But would you like to get a coffee just now?” he ends and starts to blush himself, which Dan thinks make him look a lot younger than he must be.

 

“Sure!” Jools says eagerly and Dan snorts loudly.

 

“Brilliant, well let me go and get my jumper and I’ll come back and get you!” Matthew says to her with a smile and he rushes off with a spring in his step. Jools watches him go until he is out of sight and she quickly turns around to Dan and smacks him on the shoulder.

 

“You are evil!” she hisses at him and Dan starts to laugh loudly.

 

“Jools, relax, go and get some for god’s sake!” he tells her between breaths.

 

“Fine! I’ll take one for the team,” she tells him and she sees the sarcastic nod from the singer. “But you get to do this,” she says to him and holds out nail polish to him, which Dan takes happily from her and then watches as she starts to head toward the exit.

 

He pulls the armchair closer to the head of the bed and leans forward to kiss Kyle’s forehead. He shakes the small bottle and unscrews the lid before starting to pain the hand closest to him. As he carefully does it, he starts to sing quietly to his lover.

 

_“When you fall asleep, with your head upon my shoulder…”_

\---

Jools and Matthew walk towards the lift in silence sneaking looks at each other. Jools realises that while he wasn’t conventionally handsome, the nurse had an aura around him that made him very attractive. He wasn’t quite as tall as Kyle, but was imposing in a different way. He had significant upper body muscle and took care of himself. His eyes were a deep blue-green and he had blonde hair that looked like it had been bleached by the sun over time.

 

They make their way back down to the coffee shop at the entrance and Matthew tells the woman to take a seat while he gets the drinks for them.

 

Jools walks away smiling before she looks up and into the angry faces of Adam and his wife, Lorraine. Glancing back at the queue that Matthew is in and seeing that he may be a while, she walks quickly over to her best friend’s brother.

 

“What the hell do you think you were doing to Dan?” She asks, furiously and taking other man by surprise.

 

“Who? That fag who thinks he can wrap my baby brother round his little finger?” Adam says snidely back to her, a smirk on his face.

 

“Adam, don’t be even more of an arsehole than you already are,” Jools tells him angrily. “Those two love each other more than you can imagine. If anything it was probably Kyle who started it anyway, you know what he’s like.”

 

“Whatever, it’s disgusting anyway,” the man replies and his wife scoffs and nods haughtily.

 

“Well whatever you believe they’re engaged and going to be married so you’ll just have to get used to it,” Jools informs him and he looks at he completely shocked. “Oh? That piece of information not get to you yet? Sorry to tell you that then,” she tells him with a smirk of her own.

 

“Is everything OK over here?” a voice says from behind them and Jools looks to see Matthew walking towards her with two coffees on a tray.

 

“Oh absolutely fine,” Jools says with a beaming smile. “Just catching up with Kyle’s family, you know how it is when you haven’t seen each other for a while,” she tells him.

 

Matthew and Jools walk away from the table and the woman waves slyly back at the couple watching them. They sit down far away from them and Matthew hands her coffee over to her.

 

“So, you know all of Kyle’s family then?” he asks her and she nods quickly.

 

“We’ve known each other since high school. Spent a lot of time together,” she tells him.

 

“But you and Kyle never…” and the nurse leaves the question unasked and Jools shakes her head. Matthew catches the glance the girl makes towards the man she had been arguing with.

 

“But you and his brother,” Matthew says, coming to the obvious conclusion, and Jools looks at him shocked.

 

“It was a long time ago,” she tells him finally. “A big mistake to be honest. Please don’t tell Kyle,” she adds pleadingly and the nurse looks at her kindly.

 

“I don’t think that’s something that will come up in a general conversation between nurse and patient,” he reassures her and they both smile shyly at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know...comments and constructive criticism always welcome! x


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Dan studiously and seriously spends the time he is alone with his best friend trying to perfect the art of painting nails. Concentrating hard he hums random tunes as he tries to precisely complete his task – all the while concentrating hard with the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

 

He doesn’t notice as one of the younger members of the nursing staff walks over to the side of the bed and starts to watch what he is doing with a smirk on her face. A couple of the other girls also wander over to watch and Dan doesn’t notice anything until one of them starts to giggle at the sight. His hand stills and his eyes flick up underneath his glasses and a small worried smile starts to curve the corners of his mouth as he looks shyly at the women.

 

“Oh, hi,” he says, looking very much like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. “Is this alright? I’m not, like, breaking any rules here am I?” he asks, suddenly worried he was doing something wrong.

 

The girls all smile at him. The first woman who had come over to watch just shakes her head at his words, her long blond ponytail bobbing behind her with the movement.

 

“Oh don’t be silly! It’s just funny to watch it happen!” she says to him with a grin.

 

“Won’t he be a bit annoyed when he wakes up though and sees it?” one of the group asks him – a woman with glasses and long black curly hair.

 

“Only if I do a crap job,” Dan jokes with them lightly and chuckles. At that moment there is a doorbell sound ringing through the unit and the woman who had let him in earlier looks up from behind the computer she was working at and hurries towards the reception area. Dan looks at the group in front of him with a confused expression on his face.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s just the bell letting us know someone is wanting to come and visit.” The blond tells him, still leaning casually against the rail of the bed. “Viv will find out who it’s for and let us know,” she finishes explaining to him and Dan nods his head slowly as if it’s the most interesting piece of information he has heard all day.

 

The older woman waddles back into the unit quickly and up to where the group of nurses have congregated around Kyle’s bed space. Expecting the woman to want to talk to one of the staff members, Dan resumes his nail painting, trying desperately to finish it off as neatly as he had started it.

 

“I’m sorry sir,” the woman starts and Dan is startled slightly as he looks up at her.

 

“Please, Dan,” he tells her, and lets her continue on with what she has to say.

 

“OK,” she says and flushes slightly. Dan felt a bit embarrassed at that. Young girls he was used to, but not women old enough to be his mother. “So there are a number of people in the waiting room wanting to see Kyle, and they say they’re his family? Do you want to come and talk to them?”

 

“Oh, god, yeah, I should go and see them,” Dan says quickly, making sure the brush was back in the bottle and screwing it on tightly and standing up to go and see them.

 

The blond nurse takes the bottle from him and he looks at her and raises an eyebrow quizzically at her.

 

“You go and I’ll finish here,” she says to him, and Dan smiles gratefully at her as he follows the older woman to the waiting room.

 

\---

The moment Dan steps through the unit door into the waiting room he is jumped on by Tasha who sweeps him into a tight embrace and starts to sob on his shoulder loudly. He puts his arms around her to hold her as she tries lets her emotions out on his shoulder and he looks behind her to see the rest of the group.

 

Mr and Mrs Simmons are standing close by, a stoic look on the patriarch and red rimmed eyes on Kyle’s mother’s face. Sitting down on the chairs behind the parents is Adam, still with a stony expression and refusing to look towards the singer. His wife is sitting next to him with the same smug expression she always seemed to wear.

 

“Is he alright, Dan?” he hears from the woman in his arms, her voice muffled as she speaks into his clothes. She pulls back from him and looks into his face waiting for an answer, and he sees that the couple behind her are also wanting to know.

 

“They won’t tell us anything at all,” the matriarch says, coldly and glares at Dan. “Apparently we are not his next of kin for some reason,” she adds pointedly and crosses her arms in front of her chest. Tasha looks back over her shoulder to glare at her mother.

 

“Well, he settled at the moment,” Dan starts off diplomatically and slips both his hands in his pockets and tries to curb the nervous instinct his has to run his hands through his hair. “They’re taking him for a scan this afternoon and then they should hopefully wake him up tomorrow,” he finishes, and then pushes his glasses up his nose where they had slipped slightly.

 

Tasha visibly lets out a deep breath and Dan can see her relax immediately as he says it. Kyle’s mum though continued to look judgingly at him and he felt completely scrutinised by the older woman. He can see Adam smirking from the corner of his eye.

 

“Well I want to see my son,” she says finally after a moment of silence between them all. Viv who had stayed with them after the scene that Adam had made that morning manages to insert herself into the conversation at that moment.

 

“Well, unfortunately there can only be two visitors allowed in at a time, so you will have to go in shifts,” the woman informs the group and gives a reassuring smile to Dan after saying it.

 

“Well obviously I will go in first,” Mrs Simmons says loudly, but Tasha puts her hand out to stop her mother from going any further.

 

“Mum, I’m sure Dan has things to collect, so why don’t I go in with him while he gets his stuff and then you can come in when he comes out,” the eldest sibling says to her and Dan is grateful he doesn’t have to be alone with the woman as he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable around her.

 

The woman huffs a sigh of displeasure, but relents and Dan holds the door open for Tasha to walk through ahead of him. They walk towards where Kyle was still lying peacefully and the nurse that Dan had left with him was just finishing off the second hand and she holds the small bottle out to Dan for him to take.

 

“Wow, you’re quick at that!” he says, impressed with the time it took her to do it.

 

“A lot of practice,” she replies and smiles at Tasha before giving them some space.

 

Tasha doesn’t say anything when she sees Kyle, but Dan hears the gasp as she rushes forward and places a hand on his head to brush the hair away.

 

“He looks so young since they shaved him,” she says incredulously and Dan smiles at her.

 

“Yeah, I don’t want to be around when he sees himself in the mirror tomorrow,” and the woman laughs at the comment. She looks down at her brother for another couple of moments while Dan collects his things and then she looks up at the man she knows makes Kyle so happy.

 

“I’m sorry about Ads and my mum,” she says to him finally. “Mum just likes to be in charge of everyone, but Kyle hasn’t had that since he left home! I know he would want you to be next of kin,” she reassures him and Dan gives her a small smile in reply. “And, congratulations,” she finally adds and hugs him again. “I’m looking forward to having another brother!”

 

\---

Dan leaves the unit and says a cursory good bye to his future in laws as he leaves and he runs into Jools and Matthew coming in as he was going out. He gives the nurse his thanks and hopes that he will see him later and Jools then follows him towards the bank of lifts and stands next to him.

 

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Dan tells her and she just shrugs at him.

 

“I don’t really want to be around that crazy family any more than you do!” she says and Dan laughs properly for the first time since the accident.

 

“It’s really saying something when Kyle seems like the sane one out of all of them,” Dan agrees, his shoulders still shaking with laughter.

 

It is pure guilt that keeps Dan away from the hospital for the rest of the day and that evening. He still felt guilty that he had named himself next of kin on Kyle’s records and this was compounded by the feeling he got when he was confronted by his soon to be mother in law.

 

He goes back to the hotel with Jools and after a couple of hour well needed rest he goes downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group. Will, Woody and Coop were all in the hotel bar and having drinks when Dan wanders in looking for something to eat. He makes his way over to the trio and looks sheepish when they look up to see him walking towards them.

 

“Hey mate! How are you doing?” Coop asks him, standing up to give him his seat while he looks around for another one. Dan sits down in the wooden chair and shrugs, still not fully awake from his nap.

 

“I’m sorry about earlier Woody,” he apologises to the drummer who just shrugs and waves it off.

 

“Shut up man, it’s fine,” he tells him and he throws the bar menu at the man so he can find something to eat. Dan gives it a cursory look before he starts to get up.

 

“I’ll get it,” Coop tells him, “What are you having?”

 

“Chips,” Dan tells him. “Diet Coke?” he adds and Coop smiles claps him on the shoulder before heading to the bar.

 

He spends a calming couple of hours with the three of them and they are later joined by Charlie who settles down with them and they all start optimistically talking about what was going to happen once Kyle was out of the hospital.

 

After a while, feeling exhausted again, Dan excuses himself to go back upstairs and as he leaves the bar he literally runs into the middle Simmons child. Not realising who it was, he mumbles an apology, before trying to escape back to his room.

 

“Oh, I see you’re down here having a great old time while my brother’s in the hospital ill are you?” the man says to him, and Dan instinctively looks up to see who is talking to him. He manages to stop the roll of his eyes in time.

 

“Sorry Adam, I just needed some food, and now I’m heading to bed,” Dan tells him and side steps the man to get past him and towards the lifts. He doesn’t even look back as he hears the man insult him more and rushes quickly out of earshot.

 

He manages to get back to his room and he collapses back onto his bed. He strips out of his clothes without even getting off of the horizontal surface and scrambles into the warmth of the duvet he had only left a matter of hours earlier.

 

He falls asleep dreaming about waking up the following day and seeing his lover again.

 

\---

When the next day finally comes, and Dan is sitting in the waiting room of the unit at the hospital again surrounded by the family of the man he loved, he sits on his own next to Jools and can’t help the constant bounce in his leg. He has already been told that the scan had shown a marked improvement in the swelling of Kyle’s brain, and they were about to take the tube out and wake him up, but he couldn’t help his anxiety and paranoia seeping into his brain.

 

Jools grasps onto his hand to try and keep him calm, and when he looks around the room he sees that same derisory smirk on Adam’s face as he notices it. Jools clearly notices too as she elbows Dan in the side and squeezes his hand tighter, subconsciously telling him not to pay any attention to the man.

 

What feels like hours seems to pass, but eventually the door opens and Matthew comes out smiling at the group as a whole.

 

“So, he’s awake and breathing on his own,” the man tells them. There is a collective sigh of relief from everyone in the room. “He’s still a bit groggy, but he’s asking to see his family, so I’ve come out to take you in two at a time,” he finishes and looks at Dan and Jools first.

 

“Why does he get to go in first?” Mrs Simmons snaps from the corner of the room, clearly unhappy with the idea.

 

“Well, Dan is down as Kyle’s next of kin, so I think it’s fair he goes in first,” Matthew says softly to the woman, clearly used to dealing with family drama in his line of work. The woman sighs emphatically and sits back down into her seat.

 

Matthew hold the door open for Dan and Jools and gives a small shy smile to the girl as she walks past him, causing her to blush again and Dan to inwardly high five. He walks the familiar route to the bed space, and he already notices that it looks different. The ventilator is switched off and the head of the bed is now full raised and in an upright position.

 

Dan smiles broadly as he sees his fiancée sitting, holding the oxygen mask over his mouth and gesticulating wildly with his good hand about something. The nurse he is talking to notices Dan and Jools as they walk towards him and smiles at Kyle before excusing herself. Kyle looks confused slightly before looking around him and smiles when he sees two people coming towards him.

 

“Jools! Oh my god! Thank fuck you’re here! I have no idea what’s happened to me!” Kyle exclaims to his friend and stops suddenly and gives her a strange look. “When did you grow and dye your hair?” he says, clearly confused and doing a number of double takes at the woman.

 

“Wha-?” Jools starts to say before Kyle looks towards Dan standing next to her, smiling.

 

“And who’s this? Is it really right to bring a new boyfriend to see your ill best friend?” he asks her, feigning anger. He holds his good hand out towards Dan.

 

“Hi mate, I’m Kyle, and you are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness I am so sorry! I had a mental block and couldn't actually get anything down!
> 
> I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but it got us to where we need to be so there's always that!
> 
> Don't hate me and I hope you liked it. Please let me know x


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**_Nine Months Earlier_ **

 

“Kyle, this isn’t your room,” Will says angrily as he opens the door after hearing the jiggling of the handle from the hallway.

 

“Calm down William, I know it’s not my room,” the man replies snarkily as he strolls in through the door, not bothering to wait for an invitation. “Wow, your room is bigger than ours!” he declares as he looks around the spacious room which had space for two king size beds, built in desk area and a sofa and all topped off with a full length picture window taking up one wall.

 

“Yeah, I think Dave’s trying to butter Dan up for something,” Will replies and Kyle nods clearly impressed.

 

“Speaking of, where is our illustrious leader?” Kyle asks, wandering around the room aimlessly and picking up items around the room, scrutinising them and throwing them back into completely different places.

 

“Dan!” Will calls towards the bathroom, “Kyle’s being annoying!” and he turns back round to see Kyle throwing himself onto Will’s bed, still with his shoes on.

 

Dan walks out of the bathroom in an old t-shirt and joggers actively towelling his hair dry. They had arrived in Dublin a couple of hours earlier and headed straight towards the large modern hotel in the centre of the city. All Dan had talked about on the journey from the airport was how he needed a shower after someone on the flight had spilled their drink all over him.

 

“What the hell do you think I can do about that?” he asks as he walks past Will towards his case, shoving Kyle’s feet off the man’s bed as he passes.

 

“I don’t know and I don’t care, but take him away from me before I kill him and you have to explain it to the fans,” Will tells him and Dan rolls his eyes at him.

 

“You know I chose to room with you for a reason right?”

 

“You know I’m sitting right here!” the younger man complains to the two bickering in front of him. “Daniel, I am bored, single and ready to mingle my man and I have chosen _you_ to accompany me out tonight!” Kyle announces to him.

 

Dan cocks an eyebrow at him. Kyle had already let them know about his recent split before Christmas. When he first heard about it his heart had leapt with the possibilities that this could offer him with his clearly unrequited crush on the keyboard player. The fantasies, however, were soon trumped by the paranoia, anxiety and self-doubt that had always plagued him.

 

“Woody already turned you down?” Dan asks him and there’s a moment where the two men stare intently at each other. Dan wonders whether the silence is lasting longer than it should do before he gets his answer.

 

“Yeah,” Kyle tells him reluctantly. “He’s got a headache.” Dan chuckles at him as he throws the towel on top of his bed.

 

“Fine,” he tells him eventually, feigning annoyance. “Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs in half an hour.”

 

Kyle jumps up excitedly and smacks a kiss on the singer’s cheek in jest as he passes him. And if Dan’s spine tingled at the impromptu touch, well no one else had to know.

 

****

They arrived in Temple Bar in a taxi an hour later and they literally fell into the first pub they found. The meander through the crowd to get to the bar and signal the barman down to order drinks.

 

“Hey mate, can I get Guinness for me and…” he looks over at Dan for his drinks order. The singer wasn’t listening, more interested in the atmosphere and groups surrounding him. Kyle elbows him to get his attention and gives him an annoyed glare when Dan looks at him.

 

“Oh! Morgan’s and Lemonade,” Dan asks the guy and gives him a small smile of thanks.

 

“Mate, really?” Kyle asks him. “We’re in Ireland and you’re ordering Morgan’s?”

 

“What?” Dan says and Kyle scoffs at him and shakes his head.

 

“Never gonna get you laid like this,” Kyle tells him and hands over a ten euro note to the man in return for his drinks. Dan takes a long drink of his spirit and looks back at him.

 

“I didn’t think that was the objective tonight?” Dan teases.

 

“Hey you’ve had a longer dry spell than me,” Kyle retorts and starts on his pint. “So, my main man Dan, who do you fancy around here?”

 

“Kyle, leave me alone,” Dan tells him and takes another drink, downing the glass quickly.

 

“Nope! I’m on a mission now,” Kyle tells him and starts to look around the room at the possibilities available.

 

“You’re gonna need to get me drunker than this if you want your plan to succeed,” Dan eventually tells him.

 

“Challenge accepted!” his friend cheerfully declares and orders him another, but making this one a double.

 

By the time they had made it through two more bars and were walking rather unsteadily along the river to a club they had heard was good nearby, they had both had a significant amount of alcohol between them.

 

“So what was wrong with that last girl?” Kyle asks Dan, clearly not understanding why his friend hadn’t done anything with her.

 

“Nothing! Just wasn’t my type,” Dan tells him, slightly slurring his words as he talked. He was finally enjoying himself, but the way Kyle had been constantly throwing him towards women all night had slowly been annoying him to the point he wanted to crack and tell him exactly why he wasn’t going after any of them.

 

“She was young, pretty and clearly easy,” Kyle tells him with wide eyes. “What about that isn’t your type?” Dan rolls his eyes at him and walks a bit faster, wrapping his arms around him, the winter chill hitting him a bit more.

 

Kyle walks a bit quicker to keep up with him and shoves his own hands in his pockets as he catches him.

 

“Fine! Alright, so that’s not your type,” he says to him as they get to the entrance of the club, pounding bass coming out of it. The bouncer eyes them quickly trying to decide whether they were the type the club wanted. Evidently they were as he steps to the side and lets the men inside.

 

Kyle orders for them again at the bar as his head bops to the dance music and waits for Dan to negotiate his way through the throng of dancers. He hands the now familiar drink over to him and takes a sip of his own vodka.

 

“Well at least get off with someone in here?” Kyle shouts at him, moving his mouth to Dan’s ear to get himself heard. Dan hoped that he couldn’t see the way the breath was affecting him. Dan groans and just looks at Kyle with anger finally boiling in his eyes.

 

“Why the hell do you care so much, Kyle?” He shouts back at him, and downs the drink quicker than he should and moves onto the dancefloor as a new song starts. It’s clearly a popular choice with the regular crowd. Dan can tell it is the Script, and supposed that as local boys they would be popular with the drunker of the clientele.

 

He feels a hand on his arm, and pulling him backwards. He turns around to see Kyle looking at him with a confused expression. Deciding that words were clearly not going to stop the man from what he was doing, Dan eventually cracks and shoves as hard as he could against Kyle’s chest. Kyle’s arms get thrown out to the side, but he doesn’t stop the movement as Dan walks him towards a dark corner of the club and pushes him forcefully against the wall.

 

Dan watches Kyle’s eyes get wider in the dancing lights, and before he can lose his nerve he moves his leg between the younger man’s and presses his own lean body against the other. He tilts his head slightly and insistently pushes his lips against Kyle’s. It is only a short kiss, just the pressing of lips before Dan pulls away and looks inquisitively into the other man’s face. He sees no signs that Kyle was disgusted or wanted him to stop, so he pushes back towards him and their lips meet for the second time.

 

Kyle quickly got with the programme and Dan feels hands move up and caress his neck as the kiss got more and more heated. He brings his own hands to Kyle’s hips and starts rubbing at his hipbones causing a groan to come from his best friend. Eventually the kiss ends as both men need to take a breath. They don’t move too far apart and they continue to stare at each other.

 

“I told you,” Dan says to him, “they weren’t my type.” And he tries to convey all the feelings he had held for years through his eyes into Kyle’s.

 

“Thank fuck for that,” Kyle exclaims and surges forward to kiss him again.

 

\---

 

**_Now_ **

 

“Hi mate, I’m Kyle, and you are?”

 

“Uhm,” is all that comes out of Dan’s mouth. His body goes rigid and it feels like someone has dumped a bucket of ice water over him.

 

He turns to Jools with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. Jools can’t think of anything to say either, and a look of worry and sadness crosses her face. Jools quickly looks towards Matthew who is also looking worried, and he has quickly moved away to the nurses station, obviously to find a doctor.

 

“Kyle, do you really not know who this is?” the woman ends up saying eventually, seriously hoping that this was all an awful joke to scare them all.

 

A confused look crosses the patient’s face and he looks back towards Dan as if he was trying to remember whether he had seen him before. His brow furrows, and then he looks back at his childhood friend and just shrugs.

 

“I’m really sorry dude, I can’t place you,” Kyle tells Dan.

 

Jools looks at Dan again and opens her mouth as if she is about to say something, but Dan can’t stand to hear anything. He quickly spins on his heel and flees the unit. He doesn’t even stop to say anything to Kyle’s family, he just heads to the lifts and downwards to get some fresh air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK guys so this is an alternate reality alright, so please don't take dates, times and places as true. I have played fast and loose with this alright!
> 
> Hope this is alright for you x


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Standing outside the entrance to the accident and emergency department with all of the other relatives and patients of the hospital, Dan leans against one of the pebble dashed wall heavily, not caring about the scratches he could feel on his elbows. He knew he should have put a jacket on before he left the hotel, but in his excitement the idea had completely flown out of his mind. He hugs himself tightly and tries to forget the vacant look in his lover’s eyes when he talked to him.

 

He looks around at the other people instead. He gets immediately distracted watching the clearly ill patients lighting up cigarettes in front of the no smoking signs and rolls his eyes dramatically when one of them looks at him.

 

“What mate? You got a problem?” the large man says threateningly at him - well as threateningly as a man in a hospital gown, white ankle socks and crocs can be as he holds a drip stand in front of him.

 

Dan huffs a small laugh, raises an eyebrow and shakes his head pityingly at the man.

 

“Nah, mate, no problem at all,” and he pushes himself off of the wall and starts to walk towards the door.

 

“Arsehole,” he hears the man mutter behind him and he spins round quickly, about to confront the man and automatically bumps into the chest of another man.

 

Quickly regaining his composure, he mumbles an apology and looks up into the green eyes and dark hair of the man who he had met days previously.

 

“Oh, fuck, I’m so sorry doc,” he says to the man who is smiling softly down at him.

 

“Not a problem,” he says and looks at his watch quickly. “You look a bit lost, do you want to get a drink and calm down a bit?” he asks and walks past him towards the door. Dan looks at the retreating back of the man and shrugs inwardly before following him inside.

 

 ---

Sitting down at the table he had started frequenting more than he’d like to admit, Dan watches Andy walks towards him with a tray and sit down opposite him. He reaches to take the cup of coffee offered to him and he feels the other man’s keen eyes watching him as he stirs sugar into the cup.

 

“So, how is Kyle?” Andy finally asks him as he looks at his own coffee before sipping it.

 

“Uhm,” Dan starts before stopping. Andy scrutinises his face and leans back into his chair.

 

“Well, that’s not a good noise,” he jokes and crosses his arms in front of him.

 

“They just woke him up and he doesn’t seem to know who I am,” Dan tells him seriously and looks directly at the doctor.

 

“Oh, Dan, I’m sorry,” Andy says, sounding genuine in his apologies. “That does sometimes happen though with head injuries like that.”

 

Dan looks directly into his eyes at that admission. He can feel his eyes plead with the doctor as he speaks.

 

“But does it get better?”

 

The doctor is quiet for a long time before he sighs loudly and leans forward to lean on the table. He opens and closes his mouth a number of times before he seems to make a decision in his head and starts to speak.

 

“I’m not going to lie to you Dan, head injuries and amnesia are never a good thing. It takes a lot of time to get back to normal, and there are some instances where that just doesn’t happen,” he tells him gently and Dan starts to look down at his hand where he starts fiddling with the ring on his left hand. He flicks his eyes back up to the doctor, clearly hesitant about what he was to say.

 

“So what do I do now?” he says quietly, eyes wide and his shoulders hunching his back, making him seem a lot younger than his actual age.

 

“That’s a conversation you need to have with his doctor’s upstairs,” Andy tells him and he reaches over to pat Dan’s hand, much to the man’s surprise. He doesn’t remove it immediately and Dan stares at it.

 

“Oh thank fuck, there you are,” comes a familiar voice from behind Dan. Andy’s hand shoots back across the table and Dan turns round with his eyebrows raised and sees Jools rushing towards him. “Oh,” she says and stops dead when she sees the A&E doctor at the table with him. She scowls over the table at him and then turns her attention to the singer.

 

“Kyle’s doctor wants to speak to you about him,” she says to him and grabs his wrist to drag him from the table. She pulls him out of his chair and doesn’t even look back to see if he is following her towards the lifts before hitting the call button. The lift doors slide open and she walks forward confidently and just senses that Dan is following her as well.

 

\---

“So basically what you’re saying is ‘just wait and see’?” Tasha asks the ICU doctor after he has explained exactly what has happened to Kyle’s memory.

 

Dan, sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair, studiously stares at the floor while he half listens to everything Andy had already told him.

 

“Unfortunately, this isn’t an exact science. Kyle hit his head pretty hard when he landed and while the swelling has gone down some, it is likely that we won’t know the extent of his brain damage for a much longer time. He may regain everything, or he might stay like this,” the doctor continues and Dan then looks up to ask the question that Andy refused to answer.

 

“Well really, what you need to do is let him try and regain his memories himself. He will obviously be in the hospital for a bit longer, but don’t try and force anything onto him. From having a quick talk with him he seems to believe he is around the age of 19, so we just have to let him find things in his own time.”

 

“Well then,” Mrs Simmons pipes up. “First things first, we need to get the next of kin changed then,” she states matter of factly and Dan is taken aback at her assertion.

 

“Why?” Tasha and Jools say together, but they both notice the way Adam comes in to support his mother.

 

“Because Kyle doesn’t currently know who _he_ is,” he tells them jabbing a finger towards Dan who just sits silently. “If we’re meant to let him get his own memories back don’t you think he’ll find it a bit strange if _he’s_ the one who’s always called in an emergency?”

 

“He’s going to find out one way or another,” Tasha counters. “If we don’t tell him he’ll see it online –“

 

“Not if we don’t let him near a computer he won’t,” Mrs Simmons interrupts quickly and glares at her daughter.

 

“Mum, do you not like Kyle being with Dan? Is that what this is all about?” Tasha starts, suddenly angry and frustrated with her family.

 

“It’s not _that_ , Natasha,” her mother says. “But if he can’t remember at the moment he has the chance of being normal, and having a family and everything we want for him.”

 

“I honestly can’t believe you!” Tasha shout loudly and she can see Jools starting to come to Dan’s defence as well. Ironically the only one appearing calm during the entire conversation. “Kyle loves that man! You only have to be around them for two minutes to see it and you want him to forget all of that?”

 

“It’s fine,” comes a small voice. The women stop shouting at each other and both look towards Dan who is sitting bent forward with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He sighs loudly and scrubs his hands over his face.

 

“Look, if trying to let him do this without any pressure is what he needs then it would make sense that the people he currently remembers are the ones who are in charge,” he tells them seriously. “But I’m still going to be around until we know a bit more about what he remembers.”

 

“Well, how about we make Mr and Mrs Simmons the emergency contact, but Mr Smith we can put you down as a secondary contact as well?” the consultant eventually cuts in and suggests. Adam looks as if he is about to try and say something, but he is silenced by a look from his sister. Dan has to hide a smile when he sees it and sees the ghost of Kyle in the look.

 

“Well,” Dan says after the doctor takes a note of the contact details for Kyle’s parents. “I suppose I had better be going then and let him try and catch up with you lot,” he stands up sadly and Jools notices the extreme sadness marring the handsome face. She looks at Tasha and seem to decide something at the same moment.

 

“Well, I’ll come back to the hotel with you, so why don’t you come with me to say goodbye to Kyle. He already thinks you’re my boyfriend,” Jools says lightly, but Dan looks at her sceptically.

 

“I don’t know Jools,” he protests. “Him not knowing who I was was hard earlier. I don’t know if I can do it again.”

 

“Dan, we haven’t known each other very long, but if you don’t see him again you will feel like shit,” Jools tells him and he chuckles lightly at the frank admission from his assistant. He looks at the ground a bit longer before looking back up at the woman.

 

“Yeah, alright. Fair enough,” he admits to her and after a quick look at the consultant, the doctor gets up and leads them back into the unit.

 

As he walks into the large space with the fluorescent lights shining down onto them, Jools gets closer to him and grabs his hand to give him support. He gives her a small smile and they walk, hands clasped, towards the man in the bed.

 

Kyle is now sitting as upright as he can without his ribs hurting too much. The oxygen has gone and he is drumming his fingers on the side of the bed, clearly bored. Dan feels his heart flutter as he sees him look over to them, but it stops quickly when he notices that he smiles only when he sees the woman standing next to him.

 

“You came back then!” Kyle says to her with a beaming smile. “Thought I had said something wrong, but then I thought to myself, you’ve been unconscious for god knows how long so how the hell could you have said anything wrong? So what was that about?”

 

“Oh, well I had to make sure that Dan was alright,” Jools says to him, thinking that at least she was able to be truthful about that.

 

“Oh, well cool then!” Kyle accepts easily and looks at his fiancée. “So you doing a bit better now bud?” he asks in a way you would ask about the weather.

 

Dan gives a small nod of the head, and attempts a smile at the man he loves.

 

“So we do a proper introduction now or what?” Kyle asks Jools who looks back at him uncomfortably.

 

“I’m Dan,” Dan says suddenly and gives a small wave to Kyle. Kyle looks at him, intrigued with the quiet man in front of him. Kyle gives a returning wave and a head bob, smirking slightly with the action.

 

“K, I’m heading out alright? Me and Dan will be back tomorrow alright?” Jools tells him and walks to the bed quickly to give him a tight hug. Kyle wraps his good arm around her back and kisses her on her forehead as she pulls away. Jools responds with a small laugh and lightly taps his face to tell him to stop. Dan can’t help the pang of jealousy that attacks him with the signs of affection he was easily showing to her.

 

“Alright, well you take care of her alright?” Kyle says to Dan over her shoulder and sticks his hand out for the second time that day to shake Dan’s hand.

 

Dan looks for a second, and suddenly realising this would be the last time for a while that he would be able to touch him, he moves forward and grabs his hand to shake it. The handshake is firm and formal, but Dan holds on for a beat longer than he should, and strokes his fingers slowly over Kyle’s wrist as they pull apart. He sees the obvious affect that had on the man. No one else would have seen it, but because Dan is so attuned to every movement he makes he can see the small shudder it causes.

 

Dan walks away finally with a small backwards glance and sees that Kyle is watching them leave with a confused expression. He smiles to himself and hopes that this means his memory will come back sooner rather than later.

 

\---

Tasha is waiting for them as they head towards the exit and Dan is pulled into another bear hug from the woman.

 

“Don’t worry babes, he will remember and if he doesn’t soon screw what the doctor’s say alright?” she says to him. Dan just gives her a small smile and hugs her back.

 

They pull apart and head out of the door towards the familiar bank of lifts. The doors open and the tall, dark and handsome doctor walks out and looks almost surprised to see Dan in front of him again.

 

“Dan! Twice in one day, this is a nice surprise!” Andy exclaims and misses the sarcastic roll of eyes from Jools next to him. “You’re looking a little better anyway,” he adds and smiles again.

 

“I spoke to the consultant and there’s a plan at the moment,” Dan explains to him and Andy nods in understanding.

 

“That’s brilliant! Listen,” he puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a small card and hands it to the man. “Here’s my card. If you need anything or have any questions about anything give me a call alright?”

 

Dan takes the number and twists it in his hands nervously. He looks at it for a minute and the looks up into the green eyes watching him.

 

“Thanks doc,” he says finally and taps the card with his hand before putting it into his pocket.

 

“Andy, please,” the man says with a grin and starts to walk off to the door that led to the staff entrance of the intensive care unit.

 

“I knew I didn’t like him,” Jools grumbles as she walks into the recently emptied lift.

 

“Huh?” Dan says to her as he follows her.

 

“Watch out for him boss man,” she says to him and Dan just snorts a laugh in reply.

 

“Mate don’t be stupid he was just being nice. Let’s go back and tell the rest, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Small bug bear of my own at the beginning of this chapter...and yes it does happen!!
> 
> All comments, criticism and kudos welcome x


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Waking up in a hospital bed was the strangest thing that Kyle could remember ever happening to him. Stranger still though was that he had been told that it was 2017, and that he had only been unconscious for a matter of days.

 

He watches Jools walk away from the bed and then flicks his eyes around him to see the staff busying themselves with work around him. He goes back to drumming his fingers against the side of the bed. He hopes that he gets to do something soon. He knows he asked for his family when he woke up, but he is seriously hoping he doesn’t actually have to see them now he is fully with it.  

 

If it was 2017, that would make him 29 but he can remember his 19th birthday like it was yesterday. He feels confused and overwhelmed, but what made it worse was seeing Jools and her boyfriend in front of him today. The first thing he had noticed was her hair colour and change of style, but the second most obvious thing was how handsome the man next to her was. The only thing he could think to do to deflect his interest was to joke about the inappropriateness of bringing a new boyfriend to see him.

 

2017 or not, he can’t imagine that attitudes will have changed that much. Yes, he knows he bisexual and yes he has had sexual encounters with men and women, but all of his male partners had just taken the piss out of him afterwards and threatened him with violence if he had told anyone. And the thought of letting his parents know his lifestyle was tantamount to heresy. His mother had never been shy about letting him know what she wanted for his life.

 

Finally, and probably worst of all, is the man is clearly with Jools anyway. He had seen them holding hands when they walked back towards him that second time and how he hadn’t made any eye contact with him. He hadn’t responded in any negative way when he had told him to look after her, so clearly they were together. And while he hadn’t had any problems with going after guys who were in relationships before, Jools was different. He wouldn’t do anything to upset her.

 

But that handshake…Kyle can still remember the feel of the man’s fingertips on his wrist. He has no idea whether it was on purpose or whether he had just moved the wrong way, but when they touched he felt a spark ignite inside him he had never felt before – or at least couldn’t remember feeling.

 

“Oh my goodness! You are actually awake! And looking so handsome freshly shaved!”

 

Kyle looks up at the familiar voice and rolls his eyes as he sees his mother rushing towards him and his dad behind her. Suddenly her words seep into his head and his hand flies to his face. He touches around his mouth and all he can feel is smooth skin with a smattering of stubble from overnight growth. He has no idea what 2017 Kyle’s beard was like, but he knows he always promised never to shave properly again when he was eighteen.

 

“Who the fuck did that?” he exclaims loudly and one of the nurses around him looks up at the noise and smiles apologetically.

 

“Kyle, calm down,” his mother admonishes. “It’s so good to see you so clean and tidy for a change,” she continues and Kyle gives he a sarcastic smile in return.

 

“Mother,” he says in greeting and watches as the woman busies herself into the chair next to him.

 

To Kyle’s surprise his dad walks directly to his side and gives him a tight hug to say hello.

 

“Hi dad,” he says, confused at the welcome.

 

“It’s good to see you Kyle,” his dad says to him quietly in his ear as he pulls away.

 

“Yeah, I suppose, but in my head I only saw you yesterday,” Kyle jokes to the man, but the humour falls flat. He chews on the inside of his cheek in the silence that follows. “So…ten years huh? Gonna tell me everything that’s happened?” he asks finally.

 

He watches as his parents give each other sly side eyes and have a silent conversation between themselves.

 

“What?” Kyle asks, now concerned at what his parents aren’t telling him.

 

“Well, the doctor has said it would be best if you try and remember everything on your ow, because we might stress you out son,” his dad finally tells him and Kyle looks at him angrily.

 

“Well that’s complete bull shit,” Kyle tells him and gets a smack on his shoulder from his mother. “What? It’s true, just tell me at least what I’ve been doing with my life and where I’m living and who my friends are?” he asks them, and his mother just shakes her head firmly.

 

“No, Kyle. With this I am 100% behind your doctor so I will not be saying anything about your life to you unless you ask me to confirm something.”

 

“Well this is going to be fun then,” he mutters under his breath. “Can I at least have some of my stuff here so that I can see what I’m like?” he asks them.

 

“Well, I’ll go and ring Jools and get her to bring a bag of your things in,” his father says, wanting desperately to be useful and he walks quickly back out of the unit.

 

“I’m so happy you are OK though,” his mother tells him as Kyle watches his dad leave. Kyle looks back at her face and he smirks at her.

 

“Mum, in my head, what I can remember right now is a huge argument we had about my future, so forgive me if I’m not too talkative with you right now.” He snaps at her and the silence continues.

 

“Kyle, that was a legitimate concern of mine! And anyway, we got over that and moved on,” she tries to brush the entire problem away.

 

“For you maybe, but for me it literally happened _yesterday_ ,” he hisses at her. “And don’t think I noticed that when it came to you you are more than willing to fill me in!” he attacks and his mother stares at him with her mouth wide open.

 

“Well, I see you’ve reverted to your lovely charming self then,” Adam says as he walks towards the bed and Kyle shoots him a glare as he watches him.

 

“Adam, you’ve gotten old,” is all Kyle says to him bitterly as he looks at his older brother.

 

“Look in the mirror, you’re no spring chicken yourself,” he retorts and Kyle sticks his tongue out at him. “Stop talking to mum like that, none of this is her fault you know,” he adds.

 

“Great, the good son is here to save the day like always!” Kyle says with fake happiness.

 

“Can you stop attacking us? We’ve been here waiting for you to wake up you know, so please stop acting like the spoilt little brat you always were a be a bit thankful!” Adam says acidly to him as he gets closer and the two brothers stare intently at each other until there is a clearing of the throat behind them.

 

“Well, I think that Kyle should maybe get some rest?” the voice is a masculine one and the two pairs of eyes break away from each other and look around to see the man in a nurse’s uniform standing next to the bed with his hands on his hips.

 

“Are you throwing us out?” Adam says in an accusatory tone and tries to stare the man down. Kyle huffs a laugh as he sees the nurse draw himself a bit higher and then sees the soft green blue eyes turn hard on his brother.

 

“I think that will be for the best,” he says and Adam curses under his breath before saying a curt goodbye to Kyle and goes to help his mother out of the seat. “We will ring you when we get Kyle settled on the ward.”

 

Both the nurse next to him and Kyle himself watch as the family members leave the unit unhappily. As soon as they are out of sight, Kyle turns to the nurse and smiles.

 

“Thank you so much,” he says to him and laughs. “My family are insane!”

 

“That’s not a problem, Kyle,” the nurse says to him. “So my name’s Matthew. Let’s see what’s going to happen to you now,” and he moves away from the bed to find Kyle’s notes.

 

Kyle watches him go with a look of appreciation and then winks at a couple of the other of nurses. Then he sighs deeply and looks down at his left hand and continues to wonder about the tattoo he has on his ring finger.

 

\---

Dan walks out of the bathroom after the longest shower he had had for a long time. He didn’t necessarily want to be in there that long, but he got lost in his own thoughts and forgot what he was doing.

 

He’s only got a towel hanging around his waist as he walks into the sleeping area and he looks around him. Kyle’s clothes are still lying where he had left them when he changed before the concert. Dan hadn’t had the heart to tidy up the mess he had made. He sighs as he finds a too bog t-shirt to throw on and new underwear. His mind races back to the touch he had shared with Kyle that day, and he smiles when he remembers the shudder he knows only he noticed.

 

He sits on the end of the bed and puts his clothes down next to him. He throws himself backwards on the bed so his legs are hanging off the side. He can feel his erection hardening at just the thought of Kyle’s touch and he starts to feel guilty. He can’t help himself as he pulls the towel apart from his waist and runs his own hand down his chest and towards his waiting dick.

 

He hadn’t had any significant physical contact with Kyle for over a week firstly because of the close quarters and arguments between them all and now he is in the hospital and has amnesia he knows he won’t be getting anything any time soon. He misses the teasing and knowing touches of the man – his soul mate.

 

Feeling the dampness still on his skin from the shower, he starts to tease himself to the thoughts of Kyle on his knees in front of him and taking him into his wonderful, talented mouth. He strokes himself to full hardness and starts to worry at the head of his cock with his own familiar touch. He twists his hand the way he likes it and start to jerk himself quicker and quicker. His breathing hitches as the pace continues, punishing and constant. He imagines Kyle’s deep brown eyes staring up at his own blue ones with his mouth stretches around the head and then taking him fully in as Dan fucks his mouth. Kyle has been the only one Dan has been with who can deep throat him and when he does it always makes Dan scream.

 

He doesn’t scream today, there is no amazing man gazing up at him, but the thought and memories alone makes the heat pool deep within him and with a loud gasp and last tug he is spilling over his own hand quickly and warmly.

 

He wipes his hand on the towel and cleans up the remaining mess before lying back on the bed and breathing heavily. He stays still while he thinks how thoroughly unsatisfied he feels and he is about to get dressed when he gets a knock at the door.

 

“Give me a minute!” he shouts loudly and pulls on his boxers and shirt before throwing the towel back into the bathroom.

 

He walks back to the door to find Jools, Will and Woody standing there in front of him. He looks at them all one by one before holding the door open wide and letting them all walk in.

 

“Well guys, not that this isn’t a pleasant surprise, but I’m fucking exhausted and need to sleep…” he tells them as the all find places to sit around the room.

 

“Couple of things mate,” Will say to him and pulls him in for a hug before finding his own seat. Dan looks at them and makes a hand gesture indicating for them to continue.

 

“I’ve had a phone call from Kyle’s dad asking me to take in a few bits and pieces of Kyle’s so he can look at them,” Jools tells him. Dan looks at her and then walks over to the corner of the room to pick up Kyle’s backpack and stuffs a whole load of his clothes in it.

 

“I assume I can’t put anything that has us in it or automatically tells him who he is then?” Dan says to her before he was about to throw Kyle’s normal array of magazines and books in it too. Jools shakes her head sadly, so Dan continues to put in toiletries and zips the bag up before he throws it towards her.           

 

“And the other thing?” Dan asks them expectantly.

 

All three of them look at each other and look sheepish. Will elbows Woody in the side and the drummer sighs loudly.

 

“Jools got another phone call today as well,” he starts. “Dave wants Little Mix to release their version of Pompeii.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos welcome x


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so this chapter kind of got away from me a little! Hope you enjoy x

Chapter Nine

“No. Fucking hell no!” Dan exclaims loudly and moves towards his pile of clothes to throw some jeans on.

 

“Dan, calm down will you?” Will says, trying to sound relaxed and smooth to allay the singer’s fears. “There’s no way we would talk you into letting him do that alright?”

 

Dan turns on the spot to face them, his jeans pulled up to his waist, but still hanging undone.

 

“Fucking right you wouldn’t! At the end of the day no matter what that is my song! I am not letting those little –“

 

“Alright, OK,” Jools steps between them and puts her hands out to either side of her to call a time out. “We don’t have to argue! We all agree – they don’t get to release the song. Sorted, and final.”

 

Dan scrubs his face with his hand and scratches his head, causing the already messy hair to get worse. He looks at the digital clock on the desk in the room and sees that it’s late already. He starts to feel stupid and looks at the others in the room, chewing the inside of his cheek.

 

“I have no idea where you thought you were gonna go,” Woody says to him when he sees that he’s realising how stupid he was being at getting upset. Dan visibly deflates in front of them and looks back at his friend.

 

“I don’t think I do either,” he says, looking and feeling slightly confused. He huffs a self-deprecating laugh.

 

“I’m going to email him to let him know. You sleep,” Jools says and points at Dan as she walks towards the door and pulls it open. “You guys coming?”

 

“We’ll be there in a minute.” Will tells her and gives her a look. She nods her head slowly, not quite understanding why they weren’t going with her but she heads out and leaves them alone.

 

“What’s up guys?” Dan asks him finally, and flops down onto his bed with a long sigh.

 

“Nothing much mate, just wanted to know if you were going in to the hospital tomorrow? Jools told us about the family’s idea and we think it blows, but we’ll support you if you want us to?” Woody says to him.

 

Dan gives them a warm smile and rolls off of the bed, walking towards them.

 

“You guys are awesome you know that?” he says to them and gathers them into a tight hug. “But bugger off now so I can get some sleep,” he tells them and drags them to the door and throws them out.

 

Once they’ve gone, Woody blowing him kisses as he walks down the corridor, he shakes his head and gets back into bed. He may not be seeing Kyle tomorrow, but he needs to be ready in case something happens.

 

\---

Dan arrives at the hospital café early the next morning and sets himself up for the long haul. He’s got some production work to do so he’s brought his laptop with him, headphones and a whole lot of paperwork he needs to get completed.

 

He is there for when the shutters on the kiosk open at 9am and he is first in the line for his large coffee to last him through the next couple of hours. He settles down and powers up the computer before plugging his headphones in and losing himself in the music he has to work on.

 

“Shit!” he curses as he clicks a few more buttons and ends up cutting the majority of one song. He manages to undo the changes before trying to take another drink from his cup and realising the vessel is completely empty. He frowns at it, sighs and pulls the earphones from his head so he can get up and get another one.

 

“Let me get that for you,” a familiar voice says kindly and he looks up to see Charlene looking at him again.

 

“Oh, cheers,” he says to her and watches her disappear over to the counter to order him another coffee. She walks back with a significantly smaller drink than he would have liked, but as he didn’t have to get it himself he wasn’t complaining.

 

She sets it down in front of him and settles in the seat opposite him again.

 

“Flat white? Is that what you normally have?” she asks him and Dan chews his lip and shrugs slightly.

 

“It’s actually Kyle’s drink, but thanks,” he tells her sadly and pulls it towards him before stirring it and taking a sip.

 

There is silence as he drinks and the girl watches the singer as he changes his screen to his email. If she is just going to sit there, he felt too mean to put his headphones on, but he can at least catch up on emails. He sees the first one on the screen is from his friend Lucien in the states and opens it. As he waits for it to open, the girl looks at him with a sad look on her face.

 

“So how is Kyle?” she asks finally, and Dan looks back at her, unwilling to say too much but wanting to answer the question.

 

“They’ve moved him to a ward so he’s getting there,” he finally decides upon saying and the girl’s face seem to light up in genuine delight.

 

“That’s brilliant, Dan, I’m so happy for you!” She says excitedly and Dan gives her a small wan smile in return.

 

“That’s not brilliant?” she asks when she sees that her enthusiasm isn’t returned. Dan studies her a bit more, rubbing his hand over his mouth before answering.

 

“Are you asking as someone who is actually concerned or as someone who wants to report it?” He eventually asks her with curious eyes looking at her from behind his glasses.

 

“Dan, I do genuinely like you and Kyle and even when I approached you in Ibiza I wasn’t serious about coming on to you,” she tells him. Realisation hits Dan like a tonne of bricks.

 

“That’s why I recognise you!” He exclaims loudly and there are a few tuts from the older patrons around him. “You were the girl I bumped into while Ky was playing for the Script,” he says to her and Charlene seems to blush a bit in his recognition.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” she says to him quietly. “But seriously Dan, if you ever want to talk or anything, about Kyle or anything going on, I’m not going to run off and report it,” she assures him. Dan looks at her carefully, and can’t see any sign of deceit in her face or her words.

 

“Thanks,” Dan tells her. “I’ll definitely think about it,” he says afterwards. The girl gives him a small smile of her own and goes to stand up. “Oh, Charlene, he’s got a bit of a way to go. He’s on the head injury ward, and we don’t know how long he’ll be in for,” Dan tells her as much as he’s willing. The girl smiles at him, before pushing the chair back into the table and walking away.

 

He looks back to his screen and starts to read the message he had been sent. He doesn’t notice the girl looking back over her shoulder as she reaches the corner and smirk to herself.

 

\---

“OK, so he has no idea who you guys are alright? And according to his mother we’re to keep it that way.”

 

“Yes, _mum_ , we know,” Woody replies sarcastically to Jools as they walk along the corridor to ward 33 where Kyle had been moved to. Charlie chuckles with him as they move.

 

Will had decided to give the other two a chance to go in and see them. They were going to take turns in visiting with Jools as she was the only one that Kyle actually remembered. Even if Kyle’s mum – and by extension Adam – had decided that they didn’t want him to look himself up online, the guys had decided between them that they would at least expose him to as much of his present as they could. Who knew what could trigger a memory.

 

Jools leads the way into the ward. There was a laminated sign on the door proclaiming visiting time wasn’t for another four hours, but she had already rung to see if she could drop Kyle’s bag off for him. Around them teenagers, men and women ran around them answering call buzzers and helping the patients.

 

Jools walks up to the middle of the ward where there was a large desk with a computer on it and chairs strewn around. A closed door the back of the desk opens suddenly and a shortish woman with blonde bobbed hair in a navy blue tunic and trousers walks out of the room talking on a black cordless phone.

 

She chats away about nothing in particular to the person on the other end of the phone for a number of minutes before she notices the three people in front of her. She says a quick goodbye to the other person and hangs up the phone.

 

“Hello, can I help you with something?” she says abruptly to the visitors in a broad Yorkshire accent. She looks them all up and down suspiciously and seems to take offence to Woody’s long hair and scruffy appearance.

 

“Yes, I rang earlier asking if I could bring some things up for Kyle Simmons?” Jools explains to the woman in front of her.

 

“Oh, the new patient?” the woman asks her and Jools nods. “Right, well it’s not visiting time yet, so you can’t stay too long, you do know that right?” she says to them and they all nod at her.

 

She flags down one of the other people on the floor, and gets the girl to come over to them.

 

“This is Kelsi. She’s the nurse looking after him at the moment. She can show you to his room,” the woman says and busies herself back into the room she came out of.

 

Kelsi is a young girl, only in her early twenties, with a short blonde pixie cut and fine feature. She smiles at them as she watches the woman disappear.

 

“Sorry about that,” she says to them. “That’s Marie, she’s out charge nurse and has a lot of things to do at the moment. So it was Kyle you were looking for yes?” she asks them and they all nod to her. “Well he’s in this room over here,” she tells them and leads them to a room close to the desk with the door shut. “Are you all family?”

 

“Friends,” Charlie pipes up and tries to look through the frosted glass of the door to see his friend. After Dan, he was probably the one who had missed Kyle and his antics the most.

 

“Oh,” Kelsi says. “Unfortunately I can’t tell you very much, but he has had a settled night,” she tells them and gives them an apologetic look.

 

“That’s alright,” Jools tells her. “We just want to drop off some things and the guys just wanted to see how he was.”

 

“You do know the rules that his family have asked us to follow don’t you,” the nurse asks them seriously, and they all wearily nod their heads. “Good, it’s not that I necessarily agree with them, but the consultant has agreed that it might help, so who am I to disagree?” she tells them lightly.

 

She pulls the handle of the door and pushes it open. All four of them walk into the room to find Kyle lounging on the bed in a typical Kyle fashion. His injured ankle was strapped up and resting on a pillow and he was messing with the corners of his cast and looking thoroughly bored with himself.

 

“Oh my god, thank fuck. _People_!” he shouts as the door opens and he sees them troop in. “Kelsi, you know I love seeing your gorgeous face babe, where have you been?” the man flirts easily with the nurse and Kelsi chuckles at him.

 

“Kyle, you know I’m taken, we had this talk this morning. And even if I wasn’t, you’re not my type.”

 

“You’ve just never met the right man Kels.” He tries again, and the nurse rolls her eyes at him.

 

Woody and Charlie are standing at the door with their mouths wide open. They had been so used to Kyle being so loved up around Dan they had forgotten what he could be like when he turned on the charm.

 

Kyle looks back at the door when he realises that other people are there too and his flirty smile changes to a genuine beaming one when he notices Jools there.

 

“Dude, thank god is that mine?” he says pointing to the bag in her hand and she nods and walks over to the bed to give it to him. “Did you sneak in anything that might tell me things?” he asks her hopefully and she just shakes his head at him.

 

“K, you know that’s more than my life is worth,” she says, trying to make a joke of it, but she sees his smile falter.

 

“Alright. Fine.” He says petulantly and looks at his friends behind her. “Jools how many guys do you hang around now?” he says incredulously and takes in the appearance of the men. The man with the longer shaggy hair looked like he could be interesting. The other guy looks like he could be Kyle’s double – you know if Kyle had his beard back, something he was even more upset about now he had seen it for himself.

 

“Hey mate, I’m Woody,” the longer haired man says and moves to shake his hand. Kyle takes it without hesitation and the other man claps him on the good shoulder.

 

“Kyle, how do you know Jools?” he asks and Woody just shrugs.

 

“Work together. This is Charlie,” he adds and Charlie moves forward to shake his hand too.

 

Guitar riffs suddenly start blaring from somewhere in the room and Woody’s hand goes to his pocket to take out his phone. He looks at who is ringing him and his eyes go a bit wide.

 

“Oh crap, sorry I’ve got to take this. Been some problems at home,” he explains quickly and rushes out of the room.

 

Kyle looks around the room for a second, a confused look on his face. He scratches his head slightly with his good hand and looks at Jools.

 

“That tune seemed familiar,” he says and tries to concentrate as if he is trying to think of the name. He shakes his head after a moment. “Nope, can’t place it,” he eventually tells them and he doesn’t notice Charlie’s face fall.

 

“I’m sorry guys, but I’ve got some things I have to do, so if that’s everything just now?” Kelsi says to them. Jools and Charlie both nod and head out of the room. They shut the door behind them and Jools looks carefully at Charlie.

 

“That was the riff from the Draw wasn’t it?” She asks him and Charlie nods sadly.

 

“Yeah, Woody asked him to do it so he could use it a couple of months ago.” Charlie confirms. A spark of hope shines in Jools’ eyes.

 

“Well, maybe it is all still in there,” she says to him.

 

\---

After Kelsi finishes with her medications and checking Kyle’s dressings, she pulls the door closed again and leaves him to his own devices. Sighing loudly, he pulls his bag towards him and starts to pull clothes out of it.

 

He chooses a dark t-shirt with the NASA logo on it and some joggers, and gratefully climbs out of the hospital gown and puts them on. He runs his good hand through his hair to get it sitting a but flatter and has another look at his hands. He doesn’t know when he started wearing nail polish, but he doesn’t hate it and the tattoo is still confusing him on his left hand.

 

He pulls out more things, but true to her word, there was nothing in the pile of stuff that would give him any further clue to who was nowadays. He starts to throw everything back into the rucksack, and out of the corner of his eye he notices an envelope flutter to the floor.

 

Intrigued he reaches down to pick it up gingerly, trying desperately not to cause any further pain from his ribs. He manages to pick it up carefully and he looks at the front of it. It has his name written in clear simple print and when he turns it over there is a heart on the seal.

 

Looking around him to see if there was anyone watching he starts to pry open the paper, scared he was doing something wrong. He pulls out the lilac notepaper from inside the envelope and unfolds it. Taking a deep breath, he starts to read.

 

_Kyle,_

_I’m hoping that you read this letter soon and that you realise how heartfelt my words are._

_When we talk I know you mean everything you say, and I am so happy that you got in contact with me finally after all this time. Every time I see you have replied my heart jumps a little bit and I know that whatever you have to say will tell me more about you._

_I love you so much and I am so happy that you have come to notice me and I can see you feel the same way too._

_Please don’t leave me waiting for you and I hope you let me know your true feelings soon._

_Love, forever_

_Laura_

Kyle reads the letter over and over. Clearly he has something to do with this girl and she is probably waiting for him to get back in contact with her. He flips the paper over to see if there is anything written on the back of it, but it is just blank and staring at him.

 

He folds the paper back up and slides it back into his envelope and vows to ask his mum or Jools about her when he sees them next. If it is as serious as she seems to think, they must know something.

 

He manages to pull the back rest back out from the head of the bed and leans against it to relax. He hears another knock at the door and Kelsi comes walking back in.

 

“Popular man today!” she announces and she walks through the door with a huge bouquet of red roses.

 

Kyle’s eyes widen when he sees them. He has never really been a flower person, but someone must care to send them. He gets up and hobbles towards them to look for a card and he finds one situated right in the middle. He opens the envelope to see the note inside and is faced with a card with Get Well Soon written on it in happy typed letters. Underneath it there is another handwritten note.

 

_“Kyle, my heart is still waiting for you. Laura xx”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments, Kudos and criticism always welcome


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Over the next two days Dan gets himself into a bit of a routine. He gets into the building early, sets himself up and then manages to get his coffee ordered. He spends some time talking to Charlene who always inevitably turns up and then gets some more work done.

 

He doesn’t see Kyle.

 

It’s not that he doesn’t _want_ to see his fiancé. God, if he had his way he would be up on the ward twenty-four hours a day – whether they wanted him there or not. If he had his way, the security guards would have to forcibly remove him. But Kyle’s mother and Adam had made it clear that he was not welcome on the ward, and it had been Jools who had been left to tell him.

 

Tasha had spoken to him the times she had seen Dan in the café over those two days, and made it clear that she was not behind the ban of him around Kyle. Her mother was adamant that if Kyle was going to remember his life the way it was, it was going to be because he was meant to and not because he was forced into it.

 

But that just left Dan sitting in the café again on his own when Jools walks over to him to see how he’s doing. Afternoon visiting times were just finishing and Dan was thinking about getting his fourth coffee of the day when she walks over and pushes him back down into the bench seat he had claimed as his own. To his surprise he feels a warm presence next to him and he turns to see Coop settling down on the seat also.

 

“When did you last eat something solid?” Jools says to him, eyeing the cup that had been drained and was now sitting next to his laptop.

 

Dan looks at her straight in the eye, but quickly looks away as he replies;

 

“This morning,” and Jools just raises a sceptical eyebrow at him and glares until he rethinks his answer. “Fine, like Monday?” he says to her. It was now Wednesday.

 

Jools grumbles something about men behaving like children and gets up to stand in the queue and get him something nutritious to feed him. Dan throws himself back into the seat and turns his head to look at Coop.

 

“What are you doing here?” he says to him glumly.

 

“Came and saw Kyle. He really doesn’t remember anything does he?” the sound man says bluntly, and Dan just nods in agreement. “His family’s weird though right?” and Dan huffs a laugh.

 

“Yeah, my future in-laws’ ladies and gentlemen,” Dan says sarcastically and scrubs a hand over his face. “Maybe, anyway,” he adds quietly and they both go silent.

 

“Mate, he will remember. I know he will,” Coop tells him emphatically, and puts an arm around his shoulders to comfort him. Dan looks at him and leans into the half hug.

 

“Oh, hi Dan,” a voice says from next to him and both of the men turn to see Andy standing next to the table, dressed in smart tan trousers and a Polo Ralph Lauren polo shirt with the buttons all undone at the collar.

 

“Hi Andy,” Dan says to him, hardly moving from his friend’s comforting embrace. Suddenly realising that neither of the men knew each other, his politeness kicked in quickly. “Oh, sorry. Coop, this is Andy, the doctor who looked after Ky when he was brought in. Andy this is Coop our sound guy,” he says to them as he sits upright again.

 

The two men shake hands and Dan notices Coop eyeing the doctor strangely. Andy barely pays the sound man any attention as he pulls a chair over and settles down next to them without even being invited.

 

“Sound guy?” he asks eventually, and gives Dan a strange look. Dan and Coop glance at each other and share a slight look of surprise before either one answers.

 

“Uhm, yeah.” Dan says. “I’m in a band.” He says simply. He knew they weren’t A-listers by any stretch of the imagination, but it had been a while since someone didn’t know who he was.

 

“Oh, cool,” the doctor says and Coop looks at him as the slang term comes out of his mouth. “What’s the name of it? Would I have heard any of your stuff?” he asks, and neither man can tell if he is genuinely asking.

 

“Bastille?” Dan ends up saying and Andy’s eyes go wide.

 

“Oh god! You did that song about the volcano right?”

 

Dan can see Coop’s eyes rolling so far back in his head he starts to worry the man might have had a stroke, and he has to stifle a small laugh at the image.

 

“Yeah, yeah we did,” Dan confirms with a smile, and Andy starts to stare at him.

 

“Wow, you’ve got really nice dimples,” he says wistfully, and suddenly there’s silence as Dan and Coop both stare at him. Dan can’t believe what he had heard, and Coop is now giving him a death glare.

 

“I don’t like you,” he tells him, deadly serious and straight to his face.

 

“Oh, um, alright then,” the doctor replies, clearly confused about the straight talking man’s reaction to him.

 

The awkward moment is broken but Jools returning to the table and setting down two pieces of white toast in front of Dan with butter and jam on the plate next to it.

 

“Eat,” she tells him sternly and sits in the only empty chair left at the table. “Doctor,” she says cordially to the man sitting with them.

 

“Jools, seriously, I’m fine,” Dan tells her, but picks up the knife and starts spreading the toast anyway.

 

“You are running on caffeine. If you don’t die from an arrhythmia I’ll be shocked,” the woman says to him and continues to watch him as he continues with the jam.

 

Something moves out of the corner of Dan’s eye, and for some unknown reason he turns to look at the movement. Coming through the door near the café is a familiar figure being wheeled in a porter’s wheelchair. Kyle is looking behind him while sitting down and obviously trying to argue with Adam about something while he is pushing the chair. Behind the middle child is the familiar faces of Mr and Mrs Simmons and then Tasha finishing the group.

 

Dan manages to place his knife back down on the table before he drops it out of shock and continues to stare at the scene in front of him. Adam parks Kyle at a large free table and the family move over to the queue to place their order. Tasha stays behind to say something to calm Kyle down and then goes to join her family. Kyle slams his fist down on the table in front of him and clearly looks disturbed by something, and Dan can’t stop himself before he is pushing up from his own seat and trying to make his way over to his lover. He half notices Jools trying to pull him back, but he pushes through her grip to walk over to him.

 

He walks towards where Kyle is sitting, now with his head in his hands and stands next to the table, slightly sheepish and unsure what to do next. After a moment Kyle looks up from his hand and looks directly at Dan standing in front of him. He looks confused for a moment and then gives him his trademark Kyle grin and waves slightly at him, the way Dan had in the intensive care unit.

 

“Hi, uh, Dan isn’t it?” Kyle says to him and Dan gives him a small smile in return.

 

“Yeah, uh, hi!” he says, a slight note of excitement in his voice when Kyle remembers his name. “Everything alright? I mean you looked a bit pissed just now,” he asks him and Kyle looks at him again, searching his face for something.

 

“Oh yeah. Just trying to get some of my memories back, but my parents aren’t helping,” he tells him lightly trying to make a joke of it. “It’s like some things are there, but I can’t quite reach them, you know?”

 

Dan looks at him with his eyes wide and he swallows hard and nods at him. Kyle looks at him again, and scrunches his brow as if he is trying hard to remember something, but before he can say anything another voice comes from behind him.

 

“Oh, Mr Smith,” Kyle’s mum says in an acerbic tone. “Nice of you to say hello, but I think I can see Jools calling for you,” she tells him forcefully and glares at him.

 

“Oh, err, yeah, OK,” Dan says and glances back at Kyle quickly with an obvious look of regret on his face. He gives him a small smile and points with his left thumb over his shoulder. The glint of his engagement ring catches the light from outside and Kyle looks at it. “I had better get going,” he says to him and waves at Kyle as he walks away with a last longing look behind him.

 

\---

As evening visiting arrives, Dan has now returned to his emails and is trying to compose a carefully worded reply to his American friend’s request for an honest opinion about his new song. Dan has no idea why Lucien insists on asking for his thoughts on his music – it’s nothing that he likes personally and finds it difficult to be just constructive when replying. However, he sighs loudly and continues to point out areas for improvement.

 

He hits the send button and is suddenly distracted by a flurry of activity outside the revolving doors of the hospital entrance. Confused by what could possibly be that exciting at a hospital, he pulls his headphones off of his head and locks the computer before stowing back in his bag for safe keeping. He gets up and follows the small group of elderly and younger patients and visitors to the outdoors to see what is happening.

 

He steps outside and is dumbstruck by the sight in front of him. There are two stage lights lighting up the dusk that has started to fall and casting an eerie illumination agains the wall of the hospital. In the middle of the lights are three figures that Dan recognises all too well.

 

Charlie is standing with his acoustic guitar and mini amplifier to one side, Woody is sitting on a wooden crate with a small tom and a cymbal and Sharon is standing in between. In front of the girl is a cardboard sick bowl and in front of that is a hand written sign on cardboard stating:

 

**_“Busking for Donations – Ward 33”_ **

****

Dan smiles and laughs when he sees the set up and Charlie and Woody both smirk at him and wink as they start to play.

 

The trio play a few songs before they take a quick break and they head over to Dan, chugging from bottles of water.

 

“Surprise,” Charlie says to him and smiles widely.

 

“Acoustic versions of 90’s pop songs? Really?” Dan says, but laughing while he says it and hugs the three of them separately. “Also, you sound amazing,” he tells Sharon and winks at her in appreciation and she blushes in return.

 

“Well, we wanted to do something to try and help,” Woody tells him and gets him in a headlock and ruffles his hair quickly before he was able to escape. Suddenly, the drummer has clearly seen something in the crowd as he elbows Charlie in the side and cocks his head. Dan isn’t quick enough to see what it was, but he is immediately dragged back up to where they had been performing.

 

“Wood! What?” Dan manages to get out from his mouth before he is stood in front of the rest of the crowd. He looks from side to side at his friends and feels very confused, before Charlie starts to talk to the crowd.

 

“Well, everyone, thanks so much for your support,” he tells them and he looks back at Dan before continuing. “The next song we think will sound better coming from this guy. It’s a cover of a classic dance song, but we’re gonna slow it down and do it a bit differently,” he explains.

 

Dan looks at the man and narrow his eyes. He shakes his head firmly and walks up to Charlie quickly.

 

“If this is what I think it is I don’t want to sing it,” he tells his friend firmly. Charlie grins at him and walks back to pick his guitar up and presses a button on his phone. Dan’s stomach drops as he hears the familiar music, and anger flashes in his face. He storms over to Woody and opens his mouth to protest.

 

“Dan. Just do it,” he tells him firmly and glares at him. Dan walks back to the centre of the circle and takes his queue to start.

 

_“Rhythm is a dancer,_

_It’s a soul’s companion…”_

It’s an arrangement they had decided on at the beginning of the year when they were fooling around on tour. Dan loves the song when he’s on stage, but now that Kyle can’t remember him or anything about them he can’t even think about it without feeling low and emotional.

 

He manages to finish the song without crying, but as soon as it’s over he walks away from the crowd and back to his corner.

 

He doesn’t notice the handsome doctor watching him like a predator and following him back inside. But he also doesn’t notice the man he loves watching from the back of the crowd where he had been wheeled by his best friend to watch the performance. He doesn’t see how the man stares in awe throughout the entire performance and he doesn’t see the confusion on his face as he wonders why he finds this mysterious singer so fascinating.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK guys, please note the rating has now changed!
> 
> I feel the need to credit Bastee for the inspiration of this chapter...cheers dude!
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Eleven

Kyle watches Dan walk away from the group of singers. He recognises two of them as people who Jools had brought into see him earlier in the week and he looks up at his friend suspiciously.

 

“I thought you said you worked with those guys,” he says to her.

 

“I do,” she replies and looks at him again intently. Kyle looks back up at her from his chair and he can see that she is silently willing him to remember something and he feels like a failure for not being able to.

 

“What is it you actually work as?” he finally asks her and she sighs loudly shaking her head.

 

“You know I can’t tell you that Kyle,” she says to him angrily, and Kyle can’t tell whether it’s at him or with the situation itself.

 

He takes one last look at the trio singing together and feels a pang of regret that he wasn’t up there with them and that in itself surprises him. He tries to see where Dan has walked off to and can’t see him anywhere and decides it’s time for him to get back up to the ward and away from whatever atmosphere he was currently sensing.

 

\---

Back in his room, he manages to transfer back onto his bed and Jools wheels the chair back out into the corridor to be left with the other empty wheelchairs. She looks at her watch as she walks back into the room to see Kyle and notices there is only a little time before the end of visiting.

 

She looks around the room and can see that everything that was in it had been carefully vetted by Kyle’s overbearing mother. She couldn’t see the cards that she had given her friend from the others in the group and the only flowers and well wishes she could see were from people she had never heard of or met.

 

She watches Kyle lie back on his pillows and puts his good arm behind his head to prop himself a bit further forward. He’s still wearing joggers, but his t-shirt today is mint teal green with bird silhouettes all over it. He is staring at her intently and she can tell that he is desperate to say something to her.

 

“What is it Kyle?” she says to him giving him a look that she hasn’t given him in a number of years. He chuckles when he sees it and sits up again. He calms down quickly and looks seriously at her again. She notices how he drags his hand over the stubble slowly growing back and he scratches at it quickly before he says anything.

 

“Are you happy?” he asks her finally. Jools was expecting anything other than that question, and she just looks at him, slightly dumbstruck.

 

“Of course I’m happy,” she tells him after thinking about it for a moment. And she is telling the truth when she says it. “Why would you ask that?”

 

“Well, because I noticed that the guy you’re with has a wedding ring on, and I can’t help noticing that you _don’t_ have a wedding ring on…” and he trails off quickly. Jools’ mouth hangs open and she looks at him strangely. He hadn’t been introduced to Matthew as the guy she was seeing, and she had never noticed a ring on his hand when she had seen him.

 

“Kyle, when did you see that?” she settles for asking him, trying not to confirm or deny anything and desperately trying not to fall into any of the traps that his damn family had left for her.

 

“I noticed it this afternoon when he came over to ask me if I was alright in the café,” Kyle tells her and stares down at the edge of the sheet he is fiddling with. He doesn’t want her to see the blush creep over his face as he talks about him. The last thing he needs is for his best friend to realise he is crushing hard on her boyfriend.

 

Jools looks at him for a moment and thinks hard about what he could mean. Realisation hits her and she bursts out laughing loudly.

 

“Oh…My…God!” she wheezes between breaths and she looks up to see Kyle glaring at her and this makes her laugh even louder. “You…mean Dan?” she manages to get out and Kyle nods at her, still looking both angry and confused at the same time.

 

She manages to calm down after a couple of minutes of solid laughing and wipes the tears from her eyes as she calms down.

 

“Aw, hun, I’m sorry,” she says to him after calming down and seeing him cross his arms and literally pout at her. “I’m not with Dan, but thank you for looking out for me.”

 

“Well I hope I haven’t stopped doing that after all these years,” he tells her petulantly, and Jools reaches over and kisses his stubbled cheek. “Yeah, don’t sweet talk me Juju,” he says to her and he sees her face lighten up at the nickname.

 

“You haven’t called me that in years,” she tells him, and then looks around as she hears the old fashioned hand bell ring to indicate the end of visiting. “I better go,” she says to him and heads to the door.

 

Kyle watches her go with a small smile. He can’t help the small jump he feels in his chest in just knowing that Jools isn’t with Dan.

 

\---

Kyle finds himself in a darkened room. He can’t see any doors or windows, but the darkness feels safe and kind. There is a hue of red around him and he can hear the soft low hum of piano music in the background.

 

He looks around him and is about to shout out to see if there is anyone else in there with him. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, he feels strong hands run along the broad lines of his shoulders and run lightly down his arms. He doesn’t startle. He doesn’t know how, but he knows that the person isn’t a threat, and he isn’t worried about what is to come.

 

Soft kisses start to pepper the back of his neck and he tries to angle his head so that he can see who is standing behind him, but the strong hands suddenly wrap around his middle and keep him in the one place.

 

_“Don’t move,”_ a soft, masculine voice whispers in his ear, and the warm breath whistling past it makes him shudder and he hears a soft chuckle before the mouth starts to lick and nibble at his ear lobe. At the same time the hands start to roam underneath his t-shirt and run over the planes of his lean body.

 

He is twisted around suddenly and he comes face to face with the person who had been taunting him. In front of him is dark, soft, wavy hair and deep azure blue eyes, searching his face intently. Kyle doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but suddenly the man is surging forward and claiming his mouth hungrily. Kyle’s mouth willingly opens up for him and he feels the warm heat of Dan’s tongue massaging his own and learning all the corners of him. He can taste the other man, sweet like honey and hints of spice in the background.

 

Just as he is starting to get into a rhythm and tries to get the upper hand with the man, Dan grips the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head before throwing it away in an unseen corner. He is pushed forcefully backwards and before he has a chance to worry that he was going to fall onto the floor, he lands with a bounce on a bed he didn’t even realise was there.

 

He lands with his legs splayed wide and he watches, enraptured, as Dan walks to the end of the bed and starts to crawl up his body and back towards his mouth. He hadn’t realised that the other man was naked and he stares in wonder as his dick bounces back against his stomach, hard and leaking as it moves. Kyle can’t help it and he licks his lips at the sight of it.

 

Dan moves further up towards the head of the towards Kyle, and drops down quickly to steal another kiss from the man, before moving further up and placing his hands on the wall behind the bed. In this position, Dan’s cock is directly in front of Kyle’s face and he can already feel the weight of it on his tongue. Dan teases quickly by stroking the head on Kyle’s chin, but Kyle can’t wait any longer and opens his mouth widely to take the man inside.

 

He tongues the slit quickly, tasting the precome pooling at the tip and then immediately sucks at the head. Dan cries out in ecstasy at the feeling, and Kyle’s hands immediately move to his hips to hold him steady. He licks the underside of the shaft and starts to trace the patterns of veins standing out as his lover becomes more and more aroused with the feeling. He opens his mouth wider when he reaches the base and then takes each ball individually into his mouth and sucks and pulls until the man above him moans and whimpers. Moving back to the head again, he opens wide and takes the entire length in his mouth until his nose hits the man’s groin and he can smell the arousal flowing off him.

 

Unexpectedly, Kyle feels hands at his waist and button of his jeans, but he is not shocked by this at all. He takes it in his stride as he busies himself with causing joy to the man in his mouth. He feels hands pull at his trousers and boxers and suddenly he whines himself as he feels wet heat surrounding his own heavy, leaking cock. The mouth on him is as skilled as he can hope for and he starts to whimper and moan around Dan’s cock, the vibrations making Dan scream and shout louder.

 

He feels the head of his own dick hit the soft palate of the person sucking him and suddenly he starts to pull on Dan, making him thrust quickly in and out of his mouth as fast as he can. In turn he starts trying to buck his own hips in rhythm and it doesn’t take long before he can feel his release escaping and spurting into the person’s mouth below.

 

Whimpering and humming in bliss, Dan also comes and he swallows the fluid in one gulp, relishing the sourness and warmth of it.

 

The man above him collapses back and lies down on the pillow next to him. Kyle raises his head to see who it was below him and to his surprise he sees the double of the man next to him. Two dark haired, blue eyed men curl up next to him and he…

 

…startles as a loud bang wakes him and he looks up to see the tea trolley being pushed through the door to his side room on the ward.

 

His chest sinks in realisation that his entire experience had been a dream, and he can feel the heat and wetness under the covers as he realises he has had a quite spectacular wet dream.

 

“Tea or coffee my love?” the elderly woman asks when she realises he is awake and staring at her.

 

“Oh, er, coffee please,” he says praying that she can’t sense what he had been dreaming about.

 

He watches her pour the hot water into a green, plastic, well used mug and then puts the semi skimmed milk in it. She holds up the dispenser of sweetener and he nods and holds up two fingers. She stirs the concoction and walks over to his side table to put it on there.

 

“It’s going to be a good day for you today,” the woman says brightly and Kyle looks at her confused. “There’s someone here to see you already! I think they are letting them in considering who she is,” she explains and Kyle feels even more confused.

 

The woman opens the door and moves the trolley out of the room as she says something to someone outside the door.

 

“Here you go dear, he’s awake so I’m sure he’ll want to see you,” and she holds the door open as a pretty young girl with long brown hair walks in quickly.

 

“Oh my goodness! Kyle!” she exclaims and rushes towards him to hug him tightly. Kyle looks baffled and confused and the large brown eyes of the girl bore into him intently, making the man extremely uncomfortable.

“You don’t know who I am do you?” the girl asks him and he shakes his head, wide eyes making him look very young. “I’m Laura! And we’re in love!”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Dan sleeps in that morning which surprises him more than anything else. Even though he had always been a good sleeper, since Kyle’s accident he had been having problems sleeping and had always been up and out of the hotel before any of the rest of his friends has risen. There was only the bare minimum left now. Woody was leaving that morning to get home to his wife, and that left Dan, Will, Charlie and Coop still in the hotel with Jools and Sharon.

 

He walks the familiar route to the café – now dubbed his café by everyone around him. The kiosk was already open when he walked up and waited in the queue for his turn.

 

“Hello sir! Wasn’t sure whether you were gonna be here today?” the barista behind the counter said to him when he noticed him at the back of the line. It had been the same guy there since Dan started keeping vigil, and they had struck up some kind of friendly banter between them.

 

Before Dan had even made it to the front of the queue, the guy had already put his cup in the line to be made without even asking him for his order and Dan smiled and gave him a polite nod when he saw it.

 

“Yeah, I seem to be running late today,” Dan says and laughs lightly when he says it, before handing a five pound note over to the guy and waiting for his change. He picks up his cardboard cup when his order is called and walks over towards ‘his corner’.

 

He notices at the last minute that there is someone already there waiting for him and he takes stock as he sees his friendly doctor is sitting at the table with a tweed jacket and shirt combination on, and looks very formal sitting on one of the wooden chairs.

 

Dan sighs and he realises too late that it was much louder than he had mean it to be. He didn’t want to be anti-social, but he really wasn’t in the mood to deal and be polite with people today.

 

“Hi there!” Andy says to him when he hears Dan behind him.

 

Dan raises his eyebrows and gives him a small smile in greeting before sliding through the small gap between the doctor and the table to get to his seat. It doesn’t escape his notice that Andy doesn’t move his seat when he realises where Dan is going and he can feel the man’s eyes on him as he moves, making him more and more uncomfortable.

 

He pulls his laptop and accessories out along with his mobile phone and loads up the messages he needed to work on, hoping against hope that the man would get the message and leave soon. Instead, he reaches out quickly and manages to pick up the iPhone from him before Dan is able to catch it.

 

“Oi!” Dan says, angrily as he watches the doctor type something on it.

 

“Well you haven’t been in touch, so I thought I would bite the bullet and just get your number myself,” he says to him, trying to make light of the situation. Dan grimaces slightly, at the obvious flirtation, but smiles tiredly at him.

 

“Well, as you can tell I’m not too good with keeping in touch with people, so if I don’t answer straight away I’m not ignoring you,” Dan says finally, trying desperately to put the man off in any way he can.

 

“It’s alright,” Andy says to him after a scrutinising look. “I’m a patient man,” and he winks at Dan before getting out of his seat. Dan rolls his eyes at the man’s back. It wasn’t that the doctor wasn’t attractive and wasn’t clearly a catch for anyone else, but he was fully aware of the situation with Kyle and after a week of constant attention from him he was beginning to get tired of it.

 

Suddenly another familiar face comes from the other side of him and he groans audibly as Charlene walks towards him. He manages to gulp down a good amount of coffee before she settles herself down opposite him and Andy also gives her a strange look when he hears the noise coming from Dan.

 

“Morning Charlene,” Dan sighs and goes about setting up the software he needs and plugging in his headphones.

 

“Dan, are you doing anything tonight?” she asks him quickly and he just looks at her questioningly.

 

“No? Why?” he says to her, and suspicion floods his body.

 

“I think you need to relax so I was thinking about taking you to a special screening of The Shining and Carrie that I’ve found near here,” she tells him matter of factly. Dan grimaces at the thought and she catches the look. “Don’t be like that. Come on, it’ll be fun and it’ll get you out for a bit,” she tells him. Even Andy looks at him with that and seems to think it’s a good idea.

 

“Yeah, come on man, it’s a good idea. I mean I might even join you,” he says and neither of them catch the death glare being shot at him from the young girl.

 

“I’ll let you know alright?” Dan finally concedes. “Look guys, I really don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to get working on this stuff yeah?” he tells them and the two of them take the hint and leave after saying goodbye.

 

Dan relaxes back in his seat finally with the two of them gone and finally gets to come down from the rushing around of the morning. He takes another drink and crosses his legs under himself to get more comfortable. He clicks into his emails and gets back to the tracks he was trying to write.

 

\---

It is dead on midday when Dan finally looks up from the track he is working on and looks around him to see the seating area has filled steadily with both patients, visitors and people attending appointments. He watches them all for a moment, going about their business and completely ignoring what is going on around them. He starts to feel a little jealous that they all seem to be able to go about their day when he feels completely stuck in limbo, not knowing when anything was going to change.

 

A flash of long brown hair goes past his field of vision and he is stunned to feel arms wrapping around his neck all of a sudden. The contact takes his breath away, and he has to catch his balance before falling off of the seat sideways with the force upon him.

 

The person pulls backwards and it is only then that Dan realises it is his sister who has barrelled her way back into his life. Behind her he sees Will standing there with his arms crossed and a smile on his face and another boy – who could only be about eighteen, short dark blonde spiky hair and grunge clothing – standing confused next to him.

 

“WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HOW BAD IT WAS?” Ella shouts at him, causing all of the tables next to his to turn around and look at them with a mixture of intrigued, nosy and disgusted looks.

 

“For fucks sake Ella, shhhh!” Dan tells her quickly, and the girl pulls a chair out and throws herself down into it. “What are you doing here?” he demands from her as he sits forward to lean on the table and he looks up at Will as well, asking him as well as his sister.

 

“Jools rang me,” his sister explains shortly. “I like her you know,” she adds as if it was something he definitely needed to be aware of. He just raises an eyes brow and nods at her sarcastically. Ella ignores him and keeps talking. “She’s worried that you don’t have any support here and wanted to know if someone could come up and help out,” Dan opens his mouth as if to contradict her and she just holds up a hand to silence him.

 

“Mum and Dad still don’t know how bad it is but know something’s happened. Dad’s still ignoring it and Mum said I could come up as long as someone came with me.” She explains before Dan can even ask. “She sends her love by the way,” she tells him almost as an aside, but Dan knows that there will be more coming about that later.

 

“You knew then?” he says to Will who nods and rolls his eyes.

 

“Had to pick them up didn’t I?” he tells him and settles down in his own chair. The kid next to him looks more and more concerned and confused as the time goes on.

 

“And did you just kidnap this kid too or is he here for a reason?” Dan asks, now directing a look at the boy and he almost jumps a mile high when he realises.

 

“Oh, that’s Tyler,” Ella says to him. “He’s from the year above me at college, but we’ve become good friends. I told you mum said I could only come if someone came with me,” she adds and Dan gives the kid an appraising look.

 

“Hi Tyler, I’m Dan,” he says to him and holds his hand out to him. The kid blushes and goes shy and quiet, but takes the offered hand and shakes it. “Nice talking to you,” he says sarcastically and gets a punch to the shoulder from his sister.

 

“Stop it,” she says to him angrily and changes the subject. “So we’re all going shopping,” she tells her brother and Dan just looks at her disbelievingly.

 

“Are we now?” he asks her and Ella just nods. She looks him up and down. He knows he doesn’t look his best today. His own jeans had started to smell, so he had pulled on a pair of Kyle’s straight slouch jeans that were slightly too big on his and then thrown on his ‘I Killed Laura Palmer’ t-shirt and picked up Kyle’s black and blue SuperDry jacket because of the heavy rain.

 

“My wardrobe hasn’t exactly been my highest priority, titch,” he says to her after she finishes her appraisal of him.

 

“I know, but I absolutely hate that t-shirt,” she tells him. “So I’m buying you clothes.”

 

“Again _, are you now_?” he says to her. “With what money are you buying me new clothes,” he asks her with a whimsical expression on his face. Will chuckles at the conversation, and Tyler still looks like he’s wandered off the street into some sort of family drama. Ella huffs at his sarcasm and just glares at him.

 

“Fine! You’ll be buying the clothes, but come on! Trafford Centre, all of us!” Ella looks at him and she gives him his own puppy dog eyes. Just like that Dan knows he’s not going to say no and he sighs and nods once at her. She jumps up and claps her hands together.

 

“But I’ve got all my stuff with me, and I can’t just carry it round,” Dan suddenly announces, and he shuts his eyes tight and pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

“Why don’t you take it up to Kyle’s room and ask him to give it to Jools when she comes in?” Will says to him. “It’s not like he can get into anything is it?”

 

“I s’pose. It’s all password protected,” Dan says and contemplates it. Deciding this would be the best idea, he agrees and shuts the lid on his computer and stows it into his backpack.

 

They all start walking towards the lifts and Dan selects the button for the floor they need and they trek down towards ward 33. The walk is relatively quiet, and there is a little friendly chatter between Tyler and Ella as they walk. From what Dan can make out it is mainly to do with the fact that Ella hadn’t told him who her brother actually was. He rolls his eyes at Will who laughs in return and they reach the ward.

 

“Look, I’ll only be a second alright?” he tells them as he turns to walk through the double doors and they all nod and watch him walk in.

 

He hadn’t actually been up onto the ward to see his fiancé since he got there, and he was starting to feel his nerves kick in as he walked towards the centre of the ward. He can hear a radio on and music coming from the nurse’s station and as he stands and waits for someone to help him he listens to the broad Manchester accent of the local radio presenter.

 

_“So Little Mix did a cover of this next song last weekend at the NSPCC charity concert and it went down really well! From the gossip going around it looks like they’ve been blocked from releasing it, so here’s a bit of it from their set!”_

A bit of the speeded up and sexified Pompeii is played, the noise tinny and bad quality – obviously recorded on a phone or some other type recorder. Dan sighs deeply and groans when he hears it. It is nothing like his song and it saddens him that the entire personality of the song changed in that one cover.

 

_“So I think we should all do a petition to get Bastille’s Dan Smith to let them release it! Especially if it’s for charity! He can’t be that hard hearted! Let us know!”_

He hears his own voice coming out of the small speakers on the shelf behind the desk and at that moment he is relieved to see a shorter nurse walking towards him.

 

“Hi, can I help you?” she says brightly and smiles widely at him.

 

“Yeah, could I drop something off with Kyle please? I know it’s not visiting times, but I just need him to hold onto it until his friend comes in to see him?”

 

The girl smiles again at him and just nods her head.

 

“Sure! In fact, he’s been allowed a number of visitors today, so yeah just go in and see him!” she says and points him in the direction of his room. “Ooh, I love this song,” she says as she hears Pompeii play and she turns the music up to double the volume. His own voice follows him as he opens the door to Kyle’s side room.

 

He knocks as he walks in and looks up to see six pairs of eyes looking back at him. Dan takes stock of who is there, but the one thing that shocks him more than Kyle’s parents, brother and sister looking at him rather guiltily was the embarrassed look on Kyle’s face.

 

He looks at Kyle, confusion on his own face and then his gaze slides over to something very disturbing. He recognises the large brown eyes but the girl they belong to is currently lying with her arms around Kyle’s midsection and pressing soft kisses to his neck and head. She smiles seductively up at Dan and he automatically remembers the almost crazed look in her face when she visited them in London.

 

“What the **_FUCK_** is going on here?!” he demands loudly from the Simmons’ in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger!
> 
> Hope to update again soon x


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

“Dan, I need you to come outside with me for a minute,” a voice says, seemingly knocking him temporarily out of his anger and he looks at where the words came from. He sees Tasha standing up quickly from the corner of the room and pushing past her family to get to the obviously distraught man.

 

“Seriously, what the hell is going on?” he shouts at everyone in the room, and at least Mrs Simmons has the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. Adam looks up at him and smirks directly at Dan’s face and he lunges forward to try and get hold of the man to get an answer from him.

 

Tasha manages to grab his elbow before he reaches her brother and she physically drags him out of the room and away from the confusion blooming on Kyle’s face.

 

“You’ll upset him,” she hisses into his ear as she throws him into the hallway and pushes him towards the entrance to the ward.

 

“I don’t give a flying fuck if I upset Adam!” Dan yells at the woman as they both walk, and the comment earns him a number of looks from the patients as they pass.

 

Dan storms through the doors and they swing shit behind him as he spins and looks at his ‘sister in law’. He puts his hands on his hips and just raises his eyebrows expectantly at her, waiting for her to give some kind of explanation as to why there was a strange female fan in his fiancé’s bed and they were all sitting around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

 

“I didn’t mean Adam, idiot,” she says to him, and shoves his shoulder. “Look, I’m not happy about it either. We got a call saying that his girlfriend had turned up and did we want to come in and spend some time with him because she was saying how close the entire family was. We got here and found...her,” she says with a flourish of her hands and a look on her face clearly showing what she thought of the girl, “and mum and Adam went out to speak to her. They came back in and everything was all sunshine and roses!”

 

“She’s a fan!” Dan says loudly and throws his hands up in exasperation. “She pitched up at a gig and gave Ky a letter and was all star struck, but other than that he has never seen her before!”

 

“Sure about that are you?” a clearly happy voice says behind him and Dan turns round to see Adam leaning against the doorframe.

 

“Adam,” Tasha says in a warning voice, but the man just waves her away as if he was dismissing a servant. Tasha’s mouth drops wide open and moves away quickly before she does something she might regret.

 

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure,” Dan says to him, aggressively.

 

“Well she knew an awful lot of intimate details about your _boyfriend_ ,” Adam replies and actually uses air quotes around the word ‘boyfriend’.

 

“Like what?” Dan asks, curious now about what she could have possibly said to make them believe her.

 

“She knows about a scar he has in his groin near the top of his right leg,” he starts off and Dan immediately snorts derisively, stopping Adam in his tracks.

 

“Seriously?” Dan asks him. “Have you actually checked that little factoid there?” he says tauntingly to the man and Adam starts to look worried.

 

“I’m not going to ask to see my little brother’s privates thank you very much,” he finally admits and Dan shakes his head.

 

“It was something we fucking made up on some randomly obscure interview we did like a million years ago,” Dan shouts and he can see Tasha rolling her eyes to the side of him. By this point Will and Ella had joined them and Will was nodding in agreement with his friend.

 

“It’s true,” he tells Adam. “Also, according to that interview Woody’s favourite song is Gotta Tell You by Samantha Mumba.”

 

“Well it doesn’t fucking matter anyway, because as far as Kyle’s concerned they’re together and we aren’t going to tell him anything differently!” Adam tells them all matter of factly and then huffs a laugh at the end.

 

The sound of joy coming from the teacher was enough for Dan. He sees red immediately and starts to chuckle along with the man, his hands back on his hips. Adam looks at him in surprise at the sound, but continues to laugh, and as Dan shakes his head slowly and turns away from him, Will can see that Adam’s entire posture relaxes.

 

And then Dan quickly swings back round and punches the smug man as hard as he can. The relaxed attitude Adam had and the pure anger fuelling Dan was enough to literally floor him, and he screams loudly after the shock has subsided.

 

Dan shakes his right hand out and winces at the feeling. He cradles his sore hand in the other and looks at the man on the floor in front of him. He can see the blood trickling down Adam’s face, and he suspects he may have actually broken the man’s nose.

 

“Well now you’ve done it,” he says nasally through the blood and pain and glowers at Dan. “You think you’ll be allowed near him now?”

 

“Shut up, Adam!” Tasha shouts at him. “Why the hell are you so into this? Is it just about mum liking you more? If it is it’s fucking ridiculous! You’re playing with people’s lives and emotions here!” She continues raging at him whilst tending to his bleeding nose. “God, keep your head forward will you?”

 

She gets up off of the floor and helps her brother up at the same time. He staggers slightly, but manages to stay upright.

 

“Right, you go down to casualty, and I’m going to speak to mum and dad,” she says and she looks at Dan before she heads inside. “I think you should get that hand looked at too,” she adds and Dan glances down at his right hand and can see swelling the size of a golf ball starting on his knuckles.

 

Dan takes a big deep breath in and releases it slowly. He nods at the woman and walks away from them with Will and Ella following him. They stay silent until they get into the lift and Ella just looks at her brother with a withering look on her face.

 

“Don’t look at me like that titch,” Dan says to her, and Will claps him on his shoulder in solidarity.

 

“He deserved it mate,” Will says to him, and pulls him into him to hug him.

 

They end up back on the ground floor and walk towards accident and emergency to get his hand looked at. He books in at the front desk and waits for his name to be called. They only sit on the uncomfortable plastic chairs for fifteen minutes before the double doors open and his name is called out. He stands up and starts towards the door when he sees Andy staring at him, concerned.

 

Andy holds the door open for him and Dan silently walks past him and waits for Andy to point him into the right direction. He is shown into a private examination room instead of the cubicles at the end of the corridor and Andy shuts the door behind him after sliding the sign on the door to ‘engaged’.

 

Dan sits down into another blue plastic chair and looks at the man in front of him.

 

“I take it you may have skipped a few people to get me in this quickly,” he says to the doctor rudely, and Andy actually chuckles at him.

 

“Consultant’s prerogative, I get to choose the cases I think I can get done quickly,” he tells him. “So, what happened? Last I saw you, you were trying to decide whether or not to come to the movies tonight.”

 

“I hit something,” Dan says simply. “My hand is swollen.”

 

Andy sighs and holds his own hands out so he can look at Dan’s knuckles. He pokes and prods at the area around the swelling and when he presses at one point on the bone Dan hisses in pain and he looks up at his face.

 

“Well, I think you’ve broken your hand, so are you gonna tell me what happened now?” Andy tries again and looks at Dan expectantly. He tucks his hands between his legs and waits for any kind of reply or acknowledgement. “I’m not going to give you your x-ray card until you tell me,” he ends up saying and Dan rolls his eyes at him before looking directly at him.

 

“I punched Kyle’s brother,” he says finally and looks directly at the doctor, expecting a speech about how bad it was that he did that.

 

Andy looks at him, then glances down at the desk, pulls out a red and black typed A5 card, places a name sticker on it and then signs the bottom of it. Dan watches him write

 

‘4/5 metacarpal pain, swelling right hand. ? Boxer’s #’

 

In the large empty box before handing the card to him.

 

“X-Ray department is down the hall and through the two sets of double doors. Just give this to the girl at the desk and then come back here with the sticker they give you,” he says to him and turns back to the computer to start typing up.

 

Dan looks at the back of the doctor and feels confused. He knew that he had been rude, but he had become so used to the man flirting with him that this clear dismissal of him was a bit sudden. He shrugs and walks out of the door and towards the radiology department, still cradling his injured hand.

 

It takes him half an hour to be called in and have the pictures take, and by the time he had finished the pain was becoming sharper and sharper, especially after having to move his hand into a variety of different positions, that he was certain would have been sore eve if he hadn’t just run fist first into Adam’s face.

 

He is given a sticker with his name, a number and a barcode on it and walks back to where he had his consultation with Andy. The door was closed, so he turns around to the window into the reception desk and speaks to the young guy manning it who tells him to take a seat back in the waiting room.

 

He walks out and finds Ella and Will immediately. To his delight he could also see Tyler milling around, still looking like he didn’t belong. He walks over to his sister and friend and settles down next to them before they even realise he’s there.

 

“So what’s the verdict bruiser?” Will asks him with a smirk.

 

“Dunno,” Dan replies and yawns loudly. The excitement, anger and pain were clearly all starting to catch up with him. “Waiting for the x-ray,” he adds. “What time is it?”

 

“Nearly 2:30,” Ella tells him. “Soon as we get this done we can go shopping,” she adds, and Dan groans loudly.

 

“You do realise I’ve probably broken my hand yeah?”

 

“So? It’s not your leg, suck it up and deal with it,” Ella says to him dispassionately.

 

The door opens again and Dan looks up to see a guy in his thirties in a grey tracksuit limp out on crutches. Andy is following him and Dan can see his eyes searching for him in the packed waiting room. He catches his eye and he does a small gesture with his head to follow him back through the door.

 

Getting back into the small room, Dan can see his films up on the computer and he sees an asterisk in the corner of one of them.

 

“So, yeah, you’ve broken one of the bones in your hand. It’s called a boxer’s fracture, and I’m sure you can guess why,” he jokes lightly. “You don’t need surgery which is good, but we need to keep it immobile for a few weeks. We’ll get you in a cast, and I’ll send the letter to your GP for follow up.”

 

“Perfect,” Dan says bitterly. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

 

Andy calls out to one of the nurses to show him to the plater technicians, and he follows her almost in a daze towards the other side of the department. He doesn’t even get a chance to sit down when a very tall man walks out with a smile, thick black rimmed glasses and short brown hair and takes the form the nurse hands to him.

 

“Dan Smith?” he asks him and Dan nods at him with a small smile in return. “Brilliant, I’m Stuart, one of the plaster techs. Come in and we’ll get you all casted up!”

 

Dan walks in to the sterile feeling room with two beds and a varied assortment of dressings dotted around the room.

 

“So, been fighting with something then? Or someone?” Stuart asks him and Dan gives a non-committal shrug and watches the man measure out the right lengths needed of the casting material. “Not much of a talker,” he says tom him and Dan smiles again. “Well have you got any preference for colour?” he asks him and Dan looks at him quickly.

 

“Seriously? I can have this in a colour?” he asks and Stuart laughs and nods.

 

“We have any colour you can want apart from gold or silver,” he tells him and Dan can feel his eyes lighting up.

 

“Black?” he asks, thinking that this would be a long shot, but Stuart just waggles his eyebrows at him and moves over to one of the drawers and pulls out a couple of packets in grey foil wrapping. He opens them up and Dan can see the deep black fibreglass being tipped into the warm water and ready to be placed on his arm.

 

Ten minutes later, Dan is walking out into the waiting room and smiles over at his sister and friend. He is now feeling better with the cast in pace. The heat from it is helping with the swelling, but also not being able to move it makes the throbbing ease slightly.

 

“Black?” Ella says to him and Dan’s eyes just sparkle and his eyebrows raise in delight.

 

“Are we going then?” he asks her and Ella automatically forgets her disbelief at the colour and starts to rush out of the department.

 

Just at that moment the doors open inwards and Ella almost runs headfirst into Adam.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she stutters quickly before she even realises who it is.

 

“Watch where you’re fucking going,” the man shouts at Ella and the teenager startles and looks affronted at him with his attitude.

 

“Oi! Don’t talk to my sister like that!” Dan shouts at the man, and he can feel the anger start to resurface, and his face starts warming up.

 

“Dan, calm down mate,” Will says to him calmly, trying to get him back into a sensible headspace.

 

“Yeah, mate, calm down,” Adam says viciously. He starts to move as if he’s going to walk past him, but he stops immediately next to the singer. “So we had a family meeting, you’re not allowed anywhere near my brother from now on,” he says and Dan’s head whips round to look directly at him. “Can’t have someone as unstable as you near him when he’s vulnerable like this,” he adds and chuckles as he walks off towards the reception desk.

 

Dan is still in shock as he feels Will pull at his good arm and drag him out of the department.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies,
> 
> So please let me know what you think, all feedback is really welcome and helps with new chapters!!
> 
> That obscure interview really doesn't exist, but would love it if it did! x
> 
> Samantha Mumba - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQMV1iQ-Xsc


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Kyle watches in shock as everything went down in front of him. When he had seen Dan walk in through the door his body and his mind immediately returned to the amazing dream he had experienced that morning, but he was currently ‘snuggling’ – as Laura had called it – in his hospital bed with this girl next to him who was certain she was his girlfriend.

 

He had seen the flowers and he had read the letter, and apart from the overwhelming feeling of wrongness he had with the girl next to him, there was nothing that he had encountered that made him think any differently of her.

 

And his parents and Adam appeared to be comfortable around her. Sure it was awkward when they had first arrived, but after they had talked in private everything was back to normal. Still, when he clapped eyes on the man walking through the door, his heart still leapt into his chest and he has no idea why.

 

He watches as Tasha pulls the man out of the room with her and leaves the door slightly ajar. He can hear music coming through from the nurse’s station and he starts to hum along to it lightly. He looks around as no one seems to say anything for a few seconds and he sees everyone looking at him.

 

“What?” he asks, eyes wide and confused. “Surely we should all be wondering what is up with him?” he deflects and continues playing with the sheet on his bed, desperately hoping that someone would get the girl away from him.

 

“Do you know that song?” Adam asks him, and Kyle looks at him and listens to the tune he had been singing.

 

“It sounds familiar, yeah,” he tells him and he watches as thunder seems to float over his brother’s face and he stands up quickly.

 

“I’m going to make sure Tash is alright,” he announces to the room and storms out.

 

Kyle shifts awkwardly on the bed again, moving his arm from around Laura and trying to get himself more comfortable. His dad clears his throat and everyone turns to look at him.

 

“Laura, why don’t you give Kyle some space for a moment,” he says to the young girl who gives Mr Simmons a filthy, unimpressed look, but does eventually move from the bed to the chair next to it. Kyle releases a deep breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding and notices his dad scrutinising him closely.

 

Before Kyle can ask what his dad is looking at, his mother leans over and whispers into his ear and Kyle is left alone thinking and wondering again about his life. His ‘girlfriend’ leans forward against the bed to take advantage of his parent’s conversation with each other and starts to stroke his face where the stubble was finally beginning to grow in properly. He flinches at the gesture, and automatically feels guilty about doing so.

 

Suddenly, the door bursts open loudly and Adam strides back into the room with his hand over his face, Tasha walking quickly but clearly annoyed behind him.

 

“What happened to you?” Kyle asks, astounded at the sight.

 

“Your bo-“ he starts, and immediately cuts himself off. Kyle furrows his brow at his brother and looks at his sister to see if she had noticed. Tasha has moved to the sink where there was a paper towel dispenser and was pulling sheets out one by one and handing them to Adam to try and stop the bleeding. Kyle noticed she was trying not to look at him.

 

“Adam, darling, what happened? Tell me,” his mother coos, and starts to fuss over the man more than she ever had for Kyle and Kyle rolls his eyes at the familiar feeling.

 

“Dan went insane and punched me!” Adam settles for proclaiming loudly to them all and gives his mother a glance that clearly meant something to each of them.

 

“Well, Adam, you weren’t exactly being nice were you,” Tasha tells him and Kyle whips his head up and looks at her closely.

 

“What do you mean?” he asks her quickly before anyone else can say anything. Al of the Simmons’ look at him as if they had forgotten he was there.

 

“Oh nothing Kyle,” his mother says to him and starts talking in hushed tones to Adam and making sure he was alright. Once she was happy that the bleeding was starting to slow down she looks up at her youngest. “That man is trouble, that’s all. We should really keep him away from you now that he’s acted like this,” she adds and looks at her husband and her eldest son and they both nodded their agreement – albeit what appeared to be reluctantly from the patriarch.

 

“Oh for goodness sake!” Tasha groans loudly and crosses her arms and glares at the rest of her family. “I can’t bel – “

 

“Natasha,” her father says sternly, cutting her off midsentence. “We’ll discuss it later,” he says and she deflates at finality in the tone.

 

Kyle has had enough. He had woken up confused and his day was getting worse and worse at it went on. He fakes a loud yawn and stretches his arms above his head in an exaggerated manner, and winces when he feels the tug on his broken ribs.

 

“I’m really sorry, but I think I really need to get some rest,” he says trying to make his tone sound genuinely sad.

 

“Oh, well why don’t we go and leave you alone, and get Adam’s nose looked at. I still can’t believe that ruffian did that to you!” she exclaims, almost going over the top in her despair. Kyle shakes his head in disbelief and watches and she gathers her things together.

 

“Well, darling, we’ll see you later alright,” and Kyle huffs in agreement as his mother kisses the side of his face quickly. She hustles his father and Adam out of the door until it is just Laura and Tasha left with him.

 

Tasha looks at him and looks like she is about to say something when someone shouts her name through the door and their father’s head pokes back round and stares at her until she moves to say goodbye to Kyle.

 

She leans over the bed and he moves forward so she can reach his cheek. She leans a bit further in and so that no one can hear her she softly whispers;

 

_“Please remember,”_

And she walks out of the room with a serious look on her face.

 

Left only with the girl who he was mean to love, but who had only given him the creeps since he saw her, Kyle starts to internally flinch as she moves closer to him.

 

“So we’re alone now…” she purrs seductively at him, and Kyle seriously starts to panic. If they were together, then this could wait until he had more of his memories back, but he still had a strange feeling inside that something wasn’t right. He rolls gingerly out of the other side of the bed and comically retreats from the slim girl, trying to crawl towards him.

 

“Yeah, uh, Laura,” he starts and she stops what she’s doing and stands straight. He watches her put her hands behind her back and look up at him through her eyelashes, trying to act coy. The look alone made his stomach heave, and that alone made him realise that something was wrong. “I really need to get some rest, so why don’t you go back to your hotel or something and come back and see me tomorrow?” he suggests to her.

 

He seems to relax as he sees her contemplate his suggestion and then nod in agreement with it. She picks up her coat and bag and walks towards the door. She stops next to Kyle and looks at him intently, still from under her long extended eyelashes. Kyle had been mesmerised by the clearly fake lashes she had plastered to her eyelids. They seemed to wave in a breeze he couldn’t even feel himself. He jumps slightly when he realises how close she had actually gotten to him.

 

“So do I at least get a kiss goodbye, baby?” she asks him slyly and he suddenly realises that he now has his back to the wall of the room and he has nowhere to move to.

 

The girl moves like a snake and suddenly Kyle feels her lips on his. The initial feeling is of soft lips, but thick with matt lipstick that she had clearly almost tattooed on that morning. Kyle desperately tries to keep the kiss as chaste as possible, but the girl wasn’t having any of it. She bites and pulls on his lower lip forcefully, and he can feel her tongue moving in between his lips. He tries desperately to try and extricate himself from the situation but he can’t and so can only ride it out until she has to break away for air.

 

As soon as they part, Kyle ducks down quickly and moves back towards the bed. He can see the predatory look in her eye as she watches him, flushed and clearly excited from the kiss, but he needs to get her out of the room and away from him. He decides to change tac and immediately softens his demeanour towards her and gives her a small shy smile.

 

“Listen, honey,” he says to her, and he can see her visibly melt at the endearment. “I’m really tired and I really need some rest, but please come back soon and we can maybe finish…what we’ve started?” he manages to squeeze out, feeling sick at the thought.

 

She smiles and nods quickly, before blowing him a kiss and exiting the room. The smile stays on his face for a couple of minutes, making sure she doesn’t walk back into the room, and then he brings his hands to his face and screams loudly into them, his cast muffling the sound quite successfully. He sinks onto the side of his bed and his socked feet slide against the linoleum floor. He scrambles to sit back up and then catches something out of the corner of his eye.

 

A laptop backpack was sitting at the end of the bed on the floor and it definitely didn’t belong to Kyle. He sighs again and walks towards it and hefting the heavy thing onto the bed. He unzips the bag and looks inside to see who might own it.

 

He pulls out a MacBook, headphones and various pieces of paper with words, names and doodles scribbled all over them. He takes a quick look at them and he recognises the writing immediately. He knows it’s Dan’s, but he doesn’t know why he knows.

 

He continues to dig through the bag and it wasn’t until he reaches down the back pocket where the laptop would normally sit that he feels a pile of glossy pages. He pulls out the scrunched up magazine and flattens in out to see the serious and brooding face of his dream man on the front cover. Behind him standing stoically and clearly posed were three other men, and Kyle recognised two of them as people who had visited him with Jools.

 

He swallows audibly and starts to chew on the inside of his cheek again. This was all becoming very familiar to him and he was starting to hear pieces of music in his head, but he knew there was no music around him. It wasn’t until he flattens out the final corner of the magazine that he sees his own face looking up at him and his mouth drops open in realisation – he knew these people, and this was his life.

 

He quickly shoves the magazine under his pillow in case his family walk back in and try and take it from him. He was realising things about himself, his memory was starting to be tugged back to the present and there was no way he was going to let anyone stop that from happening.

 

He turns back round quickly to the bag and its contents and something slips out onto the bed. He doesn’t realise until his picks it up that it’s actually a photo and this is also crinkled together as if it had been shoved in quickly.

 

He unfolds it and sees another picture of Dan looking at him, but this one is clearly not posed and is a private photo. He’s smiling brightly and his hair is dishevelled and he looks like he’s been interrupted doing something. Kyle smiles to himself, enjoying seeing the crinkling around his blue eyes as the moment is caught forever. He unfolds the photo and he sees himself with his arms around the man’s neck, and his head resting on Dan’s shoulders, smiling broadly as well. Dan’s arms are clasped around his waist and they look extremely comfortable in this pose.

 

As if reliving the memory, Kyle can almost feel the heat and the love of the man in the photo. He can feel the alcohol they had been drinking that night, and he just knew that before that photo had been taken the two of them had been making out like teenagers.

 

The feeling hits him hard and he drops his hands down into his lap, ignoring the pain it caused him, before he closes his eyes and mutters to himself.

 

_“Oh Fuck.”_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

“Look, they can’t keep you away from him,” Ella says to him, playing with the bowl of sugar packets in front of her.

 

They had managed to get to the Trafford Centre, and Will had ordered that they go and get food so Dan could have some pain killers before Ella dragged them around the shops. They had been shown to a table in Carluccios and were now waiting to be served.

 

Dan hums in some sort of acknowledgement to his sister and took the time to finally appraise the kid she had brought with her. He had the blonde spiked hair and a vain attempt at stubble was being grown on the end of the boy’s chin. He was wearing black skinny jeans and black military style boots. He had a low cut v-necked t-shirt on under a khaki green military style shirt. The whole outfit was finished with a black leather cuff on his left wrist.

 

He kept glancing over at his sister, and Dan could see the lust in his eyes when he looked at her. He can remember what it was like to be an eighteen-year-old and he remembered casting those looks at the objects of his affections at the time. He knits his eyebrows together and makes sure he keeps an eye on the boy.

 

“They’re his next of kin titch, they can pretty much do that,” Dan tells her and he drums the fingers of his good hand on the table.

 

Finally, the waitress comes over and takes their order. Pasta orders are thrown about and Dan orders himself a Peroni, earning himself a disapproving look from both his sister and his friend.

 

“Is that a good idea?” Will asks him and Dan shrugs and throws two paracetamol into his mouth and dry swallows them.

 

“Anyway, let’s not talk about that…I’m sick of the drama,” Dan says and grabs the neck of the bottle that is put down in front of him and drinks deeply. “Tyler! Tell me a bit about yourself,” he turns to the youth and clearly scares him with the question.

 

Ella rolls her eyes at her brother and starts to stir her Diet Coke with the straw in the glass.

 

“Oh, er, well,” the kid stutters and Dan smiles kindly at him. The kid seems to visibly relax and sighs before continuing. “Well, I’m doing music production at college, I’m eighteen, still living at home and I really love your stuff,” the kid finishes and blushes fiercely.

 

“Oh, cool, thanks man,” Dan says to him and drinks again after raising the bottle to thank the guy.

 

“Uhm, I’ll be back in a minute,” the kid suddenly says and gets up from the table. The three at the table watch him walk off towards the toilets and Dan smirks to himself.

 

“Wow, titch, got a weird one there,” he says to his sister and Will snorts and takes a drink to try and cover it.

 

“I don’t have anyone!” Ella protests and Dan nods at her with his eyebrows raised comically. “I _don’t!_ ” she says again, forcefully. “He’s gay!” and this admission makes Dan laugh loudly.

 

“Really? Who told you that?” Dan asks her disbelievingly.

 

“He did,” she tells him and Dan watches his sister’s face flush pink with embarrassment.

 

“He’s not gay dude,” he tells her matter of factly and she looks at him confused.

 

“You don’t know that,” she says to him and Dan looks at her.

 

“You want me to try and snog him and see what happens?” he deadpans and she glares back at him. “Seriously El, he fancies you, just watch out alright,” and he pats her hand in a brotherly fashion as the boy returns to the table.

 

\---

Dan collapses onto his bed in his room when they finally get back to the hotel that evening. He looks at his phone and sees two texts sitting there waiting from him – one from Andy and one from Charlene, both trying to confirm him for the evening movies.

 

He groans loudly and Ella looks at him from the corner of her eye as he throws his phone on to the bed beside him. Before he can stop her she’s darted over and picked the handset up to read the messages.

 

“Awesome! Are you going?” she asks him with a frown, obviously wanting him to say yes.

 

“I don’t know. I’m tired, my hand hurts…” and Ella snorts at his complaints.

 

“You’re going,” she tells him and Dan looks at her disbelievingly and then it turns into a small pout.

 

“Do you know you sound more and more like mum every day?” he comments, trying to get a rise out of her, but she shrugs the remark off.

 

“Can I come? And Tyler?”

 

Dan’s eyes perk up and looks directly at his sister with a mixture of hope and wonder in his eyes.

 

‘Seriously? You’d come?” he asks and it strikes Ella how tired and young he looks in that moment in front of her.

 

“Bro, you need to take a break,” she says softly and sits down next to him on the bed. “Let’s go out, see these films, and enjoy yourself for the night?”

 

Dan looks at her and leans into the embrace she is giving him. She places a soft kiss in his hair and then ruffles it up, just so she isn’t seen as being too soft on her big brother. Dan chuckles in response and watches as she stands up.

 

“Right, what time do we have to be there?”

 

“Uhm, half eight I think it starts,” Dan says to her, just checking the phone again to make sure, and nods when he sees he’s right.

 

“OK then, well you have thirty minutes to change and get ready and I will be back!” she announces and flounces past him and out of the door as he laughs at her.

 

He looks at all the bags that his sister dragged up to his room for him and starts to pull each bag on the bed.

 

After the arguing and tormenting, he had eventually let Ella disappear off and do some secret shopping for him with his credit card. He couldn’t be bothered trailing around the shops and the only place he really wanted to go to was the Vans store so he went there with Will while his sister apparently maxed out his card.

 

He pulls his new trainers out of the bag first and tips them on the floor knowing already he would be wearing them. Next he pulls over a bag from Jack Wills and sighs loudly before looking inside, scared.

 

He is relieved when he pulls out a soft, very dark blue merino wool crew neck out of the bag. It has thin red lines horizontally across the front and the back, but no wacky designs or colours and he smiles to himself. Next were two pairs of jeans from another store that he didn’t recognise. Thankfully they were black, but not his usually skinny style. He could tell that one pair was boot cut and the other slight straight slouch. He wasn’t happy, but not angry with his sister and appreciated she was trying to get him out of his comfort zone.

 

The final few bags he pulls towards himself and one of them is a yellow Selfridges bag. He leaves it for last as he knows that if he sees the receipt he may just have a heart attack. He pulls about three t-shirts out of the other bag in a variety of brighter colours he would ever consider himself. One a forest green, another a deep maroon red and the final one was a deep blue. Each one had a range of strange out there graphics that he did quite like, but he would have preferred them in darker colours.

 

Finally, he opens the yellow bag and pours it out on the bed. He holds it up and smiles to himself widely. He picks up his phone and he texts his sister quickly. It takes less than a minute for a reply to come back.

 

_Ella – dude, NASA, retro, t-shirt. Couldn’t pass it up for you xx_

 

Dan smiles again and fully takes in the garment in front of him. It was grey, almost heather in colour and the centre of it had the 1980’s retro NASA symbol on it. It was soft and tactile when he handled the fabric and he loved it straight away.

 

He pulls his shirt over his head with one hand and manages to wince slightly at the movement. He sprays himself with his right guard and pulls his new – and now favourite – t-shirt over his head, luxuriating in the feeling of the cotton on his skin. He peels his borrowed jeans off after toeing off his battered cons and pulls on the pair of straight black jeans his sister had chosen for him. He checks out how he looks in the mirror, and he can’t deny that the cut of them does suit his frame. It wasn’t enough to convert him but he didn’t think he looked bad.

 

He sighs again and pulls the dark navy jumper towards him and over his head, trying not to snag the material on his fibreglass cast in the process. He ends up scrunching to sleeves up to his elbows so it didn’t look to strange and he throws more gel in his hair to stop it from wilting on him and he scratches the sides and back of his head so the hair sits flatter.

 

He heads into the bathroom to attempt to wash his good hand without getting his cast wet and hears someone knocking on the door. He walks out again, opens up and sees his sister and ‘friend’ standing on the other side. He leaves the door open and walks back to the mirror and squirts some sort of aftershave on himself and turns to look at the two of them. He pulls his new dark blue Vans on and points down and then to his cast, indicating he needed his sister to tie them for him, which she dutifully does without complaint.

 

“Looking awesome DC,” Ella says to him and Tyler looks at the man too. Dan’s eyebrows shoot up in a question to the kid, and he just shrugs and nods his head.

 

“You too titch,” he says to her and she smiles and twirls. She’s just thrown on some body hugging jeans and a vest top and she was carrying a cardigan over her arm in case it got cold. Tyler had changed into some thrash metal shirt of a band that Dan had never heard of and had thrown a beanie on his head. As Ella twirled he saw the boys’ pupils blow wide and him looking at his sister’s arse.

 

“Sure…gay,” Dan mutters to himself and the teenagers both look at him. “Shall we go then?” he says quickly and loudly before leading them out towards the taxi waiting for them.

 

\---

They turn up at the cinema ten minutes before the film is due to start, and Charlene and Andy are both standing at the entrance, but very separate. Dan can’t actually choose where he has to go to first, but considering Charlene was the girl who invite him, he decides to go to the girl and he says hello.

 

Charlene smiles as he walks up to her and he sees what appears to be a smirk of triumph in her face as she gives the doctor a sidelong glance. Andy sees where Dan goes and walks over to the group. Her smile soon changes to a look of concern when she sees his hand.

 

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” she exclaims and then shoots a death glare over to Ella as she notices the girl walk behind Dan.

 

“Oh, just an accident,” he shrugs off the concern and smiles at Andy as he gets there.

 

“Is it feeling better?” he asks him and Dan just grimaces slightly in response. Andy laughs lightly. “Yeah, you should see the other guy,” is all he says.

 

“So, guys, this is Ella and her friend Tyler. Guys this is Charlene who was helping us with the interviews on the gigs, and Andy, who looked after Ky when he was taken in,” he introduces everyone and they all shake hands with the exception of Charlene who refuses to take her hand.

 

“So how do you know Dan,” Charlene says to her confrontationally and Dan has difficulties seeing the kind hearted girl who he had been chatting with the past week with the annoyed and obviously angry girl in front of him now.

 

“He’s my brother,” she says to the girl sarcastically and rolls her eyes. “I think I know you from twitter?” Ella says suddenly, but Charlene ignores the comment and starts to lead them into the vestibule of the cinema to get snacks. She had already apparently bought the tickets for herself and Dan.

 

Andy looks at the other two confused, and Dan just walks up to the automated kiosk and types in three tickets for the films they’re about to see. He can’t choose seats near the other two tickets so he just takes the first three seats together and pays for them all. He gets the printouts of the tickets and hands them out.

 

He looks at Charlene and then rest of the group and he makes a decision that seems to really annoy her more than anything.

 

“Right, well, how about Me, Andy and Ella take the three seats together and you and Tyler take the two?” He looks around and thinks this is the safest way for everyone. Charlene can’t have anything agains the kid, Tyler can’t be in the dark alone with Ella and he won’t be alone with Charlene. In his head it is win-win.

 

“Or, how about you, me and Andy take the three and Ella and Tyler take the two,” Charlene counters almost immediately, and before Dan can say anything, both Tyler and Ella steal the tickets out of the other girl’s hands and disappear off as quickly as possible after giving Dan a peck on the cheek and receiving a glare in return.

 

\---

Charlene leads them to the seats and they turn out to be the last three seats in the back row of the darkened room. Dan puts himself right in the corner and lets the other two people seemingly fight out amongst themselves who was going to sit in the middle. It didn’t take long before Andy manages to plonk himself down in the seat next to his and Dan actually feels relieved when he sees it. He doesn’t like the guy like that, but he is starting to get more and more wary of the girl again after the way she treated Ella.

 

A girl with a tray hanging around her neck was standing at the bottom of the stairs selling snacks and drinks for the late night and adult rated movie and Andy notices and looks over to Dan before offering him something from it.

 

“Any beer mate,” he says to him and Andy nods and runs down the steps to get his refreshments. Dan pulls out more pain killers and throws them into his mouth to try and mask the pain starting to hit his hand.

 

He notices the girl slide slowly over to the middle chair as it is vacated and she starts to massage his shoulder and neck softly. Dan shrugs her off and gets a hurt look in response to it.

 

“Sorry, just need some space at the moment, you know?” he says to her and she seems to take the rebuff well and smiles back at him.

 

“That’s alright,” she says to him. “So has Kyle remembered anything else?” she asks conversationally, and Dan chews at his lip, trying to decide what exactly to tell her.

 

“No, not really,” he says finally and he misses the sparkle in the girl’s eyes.

 

“Oh that’s a shame,” she says to him sadly. “Have you thought about maybe what to do next, you know, if he doesn’t remember anything?”

 

Dan looks at her, shocked by the blatant attempt at getting him to disclose whether he was going to move on or not anytime soon. He clears his throat loudly and watches Andy walk back up the stairs towards them.

 

“I think Andy will want his seat back,” and as if on cue the doctor stands in front of her and nods his head to get her to move.

 

She does and thankfully the light goes down and the theatre is in darkness as the adverts and trailers start to come on. Andy hands him a bottle of Becks and he starts to drink it slowly, trying to make it last until the at least halfway through the movie.

 

As soon as the tracking view of the mountain road up to the Overlook starts he is transfixed for the next two hours. He loves the film so much and can’t get enough of it. Every time he sees it he notices something different, and being able to see it on the big screen like this was a treat for him. He was silently thanking his sister for making him go out for this.

 

He runs out of beer just at the point he always starts to sympathise with Jack Nicholson’s character, just after Shelley Duvall has found the manuscript containing only ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’ and as if by magic he is handed another one from beside him. He hadn’t even noticed Andy get up and move, such was his involvement with the movie.

 

He looks over to the man and gives him a smile and a head nod, trying to convey his appreciation at the gesture. Andy moves his hand to Dan’s thigh and squeezes in response and leaves it there.

 

Dan looks at the hand for a moment and for some reason – he is unsure why – doesn’t move his leg. He likes the familiar heavy weight on his leg, and he doesn’t want it to go anywhere. He smiles to himself and then goes back to the movie.

 

The Shining finishes soon afterwards and moves almost seamlessly onto Carrie. Again he is given another beer at some point by the doctor and Dan is starting to feel a bit light-headed and reckless.

 

He finally feels the need to relieve himself as John Travolta and his girlfriend discuss what they will be doing to the oblivious psychic and he gets up to squeeze past Andy, swaying only slightly.

 

The screen he was in was the only screen still open at this time of night, and obviously everyone was engrossed in the film as the men’s toilet was completely empty and dark when he walked in. The light immediately turned on when it sensed the movement, but it was still quite dark, what with almost blood red walls and black cubicles.

 

After using the facilities, he walks over to the sinks to wash his hand and he looks at himself in the mirror and sees that his cheeks are highly flushes and he looks exhausted. He blows out a long breath and runs the taps to wet his hand and then throw some water on his face to wake himself up.

 

He turns around when he hears the creak of the hinges and he watches as another guy walks into the room with him.

 

“Oh, hey!” he says when he recognises the dark hair of his seating companion walking through the doorway.

 

“Everything OK?” Andy asks him and eyes his face suspiciously as if he is trying to look for something.

 

“Yeah! Good! Just needed to…you know,” he explains and waves his hands towards the urinals and laughs.

 

Andy watches his hands and he looks directly at the singer. He nods at something, clearly making up his mind about whatever he was thinking of and strides forward, almost purposefully towards the singer.

 

Dan’s eyes grow wide as Andy walks towards him, placing his arms wither side of him on the counter with the sinks, bracketing him in place. There is no noise in the room other than the heavy breathing from both men, but Dan doesn’t try to move away.

 

Andy places his large wide hands onto Dan’s neck and starts to stroke up and down behind his ears, the sensitive place that only Kyle really knows about, and the feeling is so good that he closes his eyes and whines softly at the touch. The doctor leans his head towards him until they are almost nose to nose, and Dan can feel his breath on his face.

 

“Tell me you don’t want this,” the man asks him, his soft Scottish lilt suddenly very prominent in the silence.

 

Dan’s eyes fly open and he looks deeply in to the green ones in front of him. His mind starts flicking through images of Kyle not recognising him as he woke up; of his family purposefully keeping them from each other; of the scene that morning with Laura in the bed, and peppering kisses all over his partner’s head and neck – and that flush that meant Kyle was obviously enjoying it.

 

And finally, Charlene asking the fateful question; ‘ _Have you thought about maybe what to do next, you know, if he doesn’t remember anything?’_

 

And Dan suddenly doesn’t want to think anymore. He swallows hard, and leans forward slowly until his lips are brushing against the plump willing ones of the man he had only known a week.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me! x
> 
> NASA t-shirt - http://uk.coach.com/coach-space-t-shirt/87525.html  
> Jack Wills crew neck - http://www.jackwills.com/chackmore-stripe-crew-neck-jumper-100012986013.html?cgid=Gentlemens_Jumpers_and_Cardigans#start=24
> 
> If anyone wants to know the storyline without watching:  
> The Shining - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(film)  
> Carrie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(1976_film)


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

By the time the night shift begins at 8pm, Kyle is done in. Fortunately, none of his family come back to visit that evening, all obviously too caught up in the destruction of Adam’s perfect face to worry about the child with the brain damage. However, Kyle was even more thankful for the fact the Laura had stayed away and not made a surprise follow up visit.

 

He had spent all afternoon lying on his bed, being bombarded with his old memories. Every time he thought about something to do with Dan, or the band or even heard something that sounded vaguely familiar outside of his door, the memories would flood back to him.

 

His head had been pounding and the build-up of tension in his neck was getting so severe he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to take much more. The problem he was having was _why?_ He didn’t understand why his family would keep his memories from him, or for that matter keep Dan from him. And until he had a better grasp on the exact motives behind the whole charade being played out, he wasn’t sure who he could trust with the fact he could now _remember._

The other problem he had was he could see clear as day exactly how upset Dan had been when he hadn’t remembered him and that struck him deep inside. His heart physically hurt with that particular memory, and he wanted anything to let him know he knew who he was again. But, as with everything at the moment, the obvious obstacle for that was his family. He still didn’t know exactly what had happened to his brother, but when they left he could clearly see they were serious when they hinted they wouldn’t let his lover back into see him, and that caused a million more issues.

 

The door creaks open and someone pokes a head around the side of the door. Kyle had shut the door and turned off the light to try and ease the pain and pressure in his head about an hour previously, but he had just lay in the silence and thought. He is jogged out of his own mind by the sound of the door and he turns over to have a look at who is coming in.

 

“Hey, Kels,” he says sleepily to the nurse, trying to silently come into the room with her blood pressure machine. “I’m awake, don’t worry,” he adds to her and sits himself up in the bed and holds his left arm out for her to take his evening obs.

 

“How’s your day been hun?” the nurse asks him jovially, after turning the light on and goes about pacing the cuff around his upper arm and hits the button to start it.

 

“Yeah, alright,” he says and winces as the cuff tightens and tightens on his arm. “You on for the next few nights then?” he asks and the nurse’s blond head bobs up and down, nodding in agreement.

 

She goes through the next round of questions Kyle was now more than used to and if he didn’t actually have a head injury, he was very tempted to make up the answers.

 

“Mate, you do realise I can now recite these answers in my sleep, yeah?” he tells her and she laughs in reply.

 

“I know, but it’s more than my jobs worth not to ask them alright? Now tell me those three words again.”

 

“Cat, Car, Dog,” Kyle recites the objects back to her and she pats him on the head. “Ooh, I’m a pet now am I?” he says sarcastically. “Gonna bring in your nursey friends and get me to do tricks?”

 

Kelsi eyes him suspiciously at the taunt. He was trying to make a joke, but she had heard the edge to his tone alerting her that something wasn’t right.

 

“What’s wrong?” she says finally and Kyle rolls his eyes at her in frustration and sticks his tongue out.

 

“See you? Anyone else would have gotten pissed off and walked out,” he lectures her, wagging his good index finger at her. “You’re too good at your job, that’s your problem.”

 

“Sooo…?” she prompts and sits down on the chair next to the bed after removing the wiring and jotting down the appropriate numbers in his chart.

 

“Fine,” he relents, almost theatrically. “I’m boooored!” he cries suddenly, obviously surprising the girl. “And my head hurts. Kelsi please tell me something about my life!” he says, trying to get as much information about what his family have told the staff as he can.

 

He watches her chew her bottom lip, thinking about what she is actually able to say. She looks back up at him and he quickly widens his eyes, raises his eyebrows and honest to god pouts at her. The silence lasts a bit longer.

 

“Come on Kels, I know they’ve told you guys something,” he says and gives her his most charming smiles. “At least tell me what they’ve told you today?”

 

Kyle sees the exact moment the girl gives in and she sighs and groans loudly before opening up the nursing notes in her hands to read what the day shift had written in the family communication part of them.

 

“Fine!” she says, exasperatedly. “Alright, what did they write today…oh, here it is. ‘Mrs Simmons and her son have requested that all further information regarding Kyle is to go to them only and not to be re-laid to anyone else…Dan Smith not to be informed of any changes…’ Oh my god,” she says quietly to herself and goes silent.

 

“What? What ‘oh my god’?” Kyle asks quickly, but the nurse just shuts the folder and places it far away from him as possible as she stands and takes her small key out of her pocket to unlock his bedside medicine cabinet.

 

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” the girl says to him, and Kyle can tell when he’s been shut down. He lets out a frustrated low noise and Kelsi looks at him apologetically.

 

“Painkillers?” she asks him and he looks up at her and nods his head in defeat. There was no way this headache was going to shift on its own so he was going to need to help it along.

 

He gets two yellow and green capsules poked out of the packet and into his hand quickly and the cabinet is shut forcefully and she signs his medicine kardex. Suddenly a loud alarm goes off in the corridor, and the expression on Kelsi’s face changes to one of intent and she rushes out of the room quickly, making sure the cabinet was locked before she left.

 

Kyle watches her run out and then hears the loud slapping of rubber on the hard floor as the rest of the staff run towards what Kyle can only believe is the cardiac arrest alarm. He takes a moment to worry about whatever is going on elsewhere on the ward, and then realises the nurse had left his nursing notes on his bedside table.

 

Quickly he manages to reach over and grab the folder and flip quickly through to the page she had been reading from.

 

“Aw shit, this writing is awful,” he mutters to himself and flicks through the pages until he can see the most recent entry. He reads through the first words, recognising them as the ones Kelsi had already read out to him, but even he startles when he reads the next sentence;

 

_‘Police to be involved after Mr. Smith attacked Kyle’s brother on the hospital premises. Family would like security to be alerted immediately if he tries to enter the ward to see Kyle.’_

Kyle slams the folder shut and throws it back where he got it from. He can feel the anger rising inside his chest.

 

_“FUCK!”_

 

\---

Kyle has to wait another hour for his anger to calm down enough to think straight. He finds a plastic bag that had been left in his stuff, wraps it securely around his cast and showers quickly in his en-suite. He sits down to dry himself and throws some clean pyjamas on. He grimaces when he sees them. His parents had brought them in and they were actual tartan buttoned up starched cotton pyjamas. He felt like he ages thirty years just by pulling them on, but they were clean and all he had so he thought he’d have to make do.

 

He throws the empty bottle of body wash into the bin in the corner of the wet room, and cheers as he sinks it on the first try. He thinks to himself he really needs more toiletries, and suddenly an idea hits him.

 

He walks out quickly into the main room and hits the bright orange nurse call button on his remote. He hears the buzzer noise go off at the nurse’s station and has to wait for about ten minutes until someone comes in to see what he wants.

 

Thankfully it is Kelsi who comes into see him and make sure he was alright.

 

“Everything alright Kyle?” she asks him, obviously concerned as he was not one to hit his buzzer and ask for anything. He smiles at her concern and thinks carefully about how to phrase his request.

 

“Yeah babe, can I ask you a huge favour,” he asks, turning the charm on again. He knows full well that the nurse herself is gay, but he knows he was doing it before he got his memory back and so he had to act exactly the way he had before.

 

“What?” comes the suspicious and obvious question.

 

“I need to ring my mum? I need her to buy some stuff for me if I’m gonna be here a while?”

 

“Aw Kyle, I don’t know,” she says to him, reluctant to let him go near the phone.

 

Kyle slides over to her and elbows her. He is so tall and she is so short that his elbow actually hits her shoulder. She looks up at him sharply and he puts his hands together as if in prayer and mouths _‘pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease’_ to her.

 

“Fine!” she says and disappears out of the room and returned less than thirty seconds later with a cordless telephone and hands it over to him. “Can you remember her mobile number?” she asks him and gets a disdainful look in response. “Of course not.”

 

Kyle laughs at her and Kelsi pulls the file over to her and finds the next of kin page with the telephone numbers on.

 

As the girl reads the mobile number out to him Kyle starts to type into the keypad in front of him, but Kelsi can’t see exactly what numbers he is pressing. Finally, once the number has been completed, Kyle holds the phone to his ear and prays silently to himself that the person will answer.

 

_“Hello?”_ a female voice says on the other end of the phone.

 

“Hi mum, it’s me,” Kyle says quickly and smiles to Kelsi and watches her potter about the room, tidying up for the time where the lights eventually go out.

 

_“Kyle? It’s not mum, it’s Tasha,”_

 

“ ** _Yeah I know_** it’s late mum, but I needed to ask you to bring some stuff in for me,” Kyle ignores his sister on the other end of the phone and stresses the appropriate words in response.

 

_“What the hell? Are you alright Kyle_?” she asks him and Kyle rolls his eyes at Kelsi, pretending that he was listening to a rant on the phone.

 

Suddenly, Kelsi is called from another nurse out in the corridor to help with something and she signals that she’ll be back in a minute and disappears out the room.

 

“Shit, sorry Tash, literally just been left alone,” Kyle rushes to say down the phone.

 

_“Kyle, calm down, tell me what’s happening,”_ Tasha tries to talk him through his ranting.

 

“I can’t Tash. Dude, listen, it’s all back. I remember everything. Don’t say anything to mum or Adam. I need to see you tomorrow, first thing _please_ ,” he pleads down the phone to his sister and there is silence before anything else is said.

 

_“OK, alright, I’ll be there as early as I can yeah?”_

 

“Thank you sis, I’ve got to go, I’ve got another call to make quickly before she comes back,” he says and hangs up before she can say goodbye.

 

Hitting the ‘9’ he then types in the mobile number he knows better than his own, and waits for the man he loves to answer.

 

\---

The only sounds in the small dark bathroom were the sounds of heavy breathing and panting between the two men. Dan was still standing with his back against the sinks and Andy was now on his knees, clumsily and messily mouthing at Dan’s hardened cock in front of him.

 

Andy sucks heavily at the head and pumps with his hand at the same time, trying to get the man in front of him off as quickly as he can. Dan’s hands are white knuckled with gripping onto the counter and his head is thrown backwards, eyes clenched shut and trying to block out everything else around him.

 

Yes, it feels good, but all he can imagine is Kyle in front of him on his knees and smirking before taking him expertly down, and this almost amateur attempt at head he was currently receiving was not doing much for him. He lets go of the sink and moves his hands into the doctor’s hair, keeping his head as still as possible, before thrusting himself in and out of the waiting mouth. He fucks the man as hard as he can without choking him and his orgasm comes quickly and quietly once he’s taken control.

 

His legs shake as he empties himself into Andy’s mouth and the man lets the release dribble down the side of his mouth and starts to shake himself as he clearly comes in his own boxers.

 

Dan releases the other man and immediately heads into one of the stalls to get tissue to clean himself up. Andy is still blissed out on the floor, but has moved himself so his back is against the wall of the toilet now. Dan throws him a paper towel so he can wipe his face and the returns to the sink throw some water on his face and freshen up.

 

“Wow. Just wow,” Andy says and smiles dreamily at him from the floor. Dan looks at him out of the corner of his eye and gives a small smile in return. His wasn’t a dreamy or excited one, but Andy was so enthralled with the man that he couldn’t notice the difference.

 

Andy finally gets himself off of the floor and moves over to the singer, wrapping his arms around his middle and starts to kiss him softly on his neck. Dan shivers at the feeling, and wrenches himself out of the man’s grasp. He quickly buttons his jeans and does his belt back up again and walks towards the door.

 

“Uhm, I’ve got to go,” he stutters to the man, and pulls the door open quickly. He looks over his shoulder quickly, almost as an afterthought, “I’ll text you,” he adds and lets the door slam behind him.

 

He runs his left hand through his hair quickly and tries to mess it up so he feels a bit more like himself. He has to get back to the hotel, so he heads to the front of the cinema to hail a taxi.

 

He pulls his phone out of his pocket so he can text his sister to tell her where he is going, and notices he has a missed call and a voicemail waiting for him.

 

He taps into the voicemail app in the phone and waits for the greeting and the message to play.

 

_“Hi, it’s me. I can’t be long, they’ve not left me alone for long. Baby, I remember everything. I’m speaking to Tash tomorrow. I don’t want to talk to mum or Adam yet. I just want you to know I love you so much and I want to see you as soon as I can. Don’t come to the ward! I’ll figure it out. I love you babes.”_

Dan stares at his phone and it then falls from his hand and onto the concrete floor in front of him. Dropping to his knees to pick it up, he notices water drops on the pavement.

 

It wasn’t raining.

 

He could feel the tears falling from his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping that people aren't currently making mini voodoo dolls for me...xx


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK guys...here have a slightly shorter but lighter chapter to thank you for putting up with me being such a bi- I mean, not so nice writer recently!
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Seventeen

The side door room flies open like it normally does in the morning and the light is switched on by some annoying woman with a little person complex.

 

“Right, come on, up you get,” she barks into the room and throws towels onto the bed.

 

Kyle throws the sheet and blanket off from over his head and groans loudly at the back of the dragon lady as she walks back out the door.

 

“Morning! Yeah I did sleep well thanks! Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing what the day has in store for me too,” he shouts out of the door but the woman is completely ignoring him and walking into one of the multi-occupancy bays the peppered the corridor of the ward.

 

He sighs and sits down on the edge of his bed. He wasn’t lying when he told Kelsi he was bored last night. He was bored before he got his memories back and he was bored now he had them back. Sure there were a few hours yesterday where he had things to think about, but essentially he was _Kyle_ , and hated sitting around doing nothing.

 

A knock on the open door gets him to look up and Tasha is standing there in front of him. He lets his head drop backwards and sends silent thanks to whoever had been answering his prayers and jumps up to hug her tightly.

 

“Thank fuck you’re here,” he says loudly and squeezes her until she lets out a little cry of pain and he lets her go. “You have to get me out of this room,” he says as soon as he pulls away and looks at her straight in the eye. “I will actually massacre everyone in here if you don’t get me out of this place for the day,” he tells her with the most serious expression on his face.

 

Tasha punches him on the arm and shushes him loudly.

 

“Don’t say things like that!” she hisses, and Kyle just looks taken aback at her. “Get dressed and I’ll go and speak to someone,” she tells him and walks out swinging her handbag behind her.

 

Kyle watches her go and wonders exactly when his sister lost all fashion sense, wearing an old brown Barbour jacket, tan stretch leggings and a roll necked jumper. He moves over quickly to his pile of clothes and throws all the shirts his mother had clearly picked up out of the Marks and Spencer’s Classic range to the side and pulls out a pair of dark blue jeans, his Loony Toons t-shirt and then his black Frenship hoody before jumping into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth.

 

Looking in the mirror while he was in there he could see that his beard was slightly longer than stubble, but not nearly anything like it wash and pats the stray hairs down to make the sit properly. He wets his hair and sweeps it off of his head and walks back out into the room with only his jeans on.

 

“Oh my gosh Kyle, really?” Tasha exclaims when she sees him. “You not putting any clothes on?”

 

“No Tasha, it’s the middle of autumn so I thought I would run around like this. You know, really get my money’s worth of the NHS and get treated for pneumonia at the same time as everything else,” he says sarcastically and rolls his eyes at her as he walks over to his pile of clothes and pulls his t-shirt over his head. He sits down in the chair in the room as his sister had taken the bed and he looks at her expectantly.

 

“Well, they’ve said as long as I take responsibility for you, you can go out on pass until the end of visiting tonight,” she says finally.

 

“Oh you are a fucking lifesaver, I love you!” he shouts and barrels into her for another hug.

 

“Look, mum and dad know I’ve come here to see you or I wouldn’t have gotten out of the building this morning,” Tasha tells him sombrely. “So I’m going to take you to see them for a couple of hours this afternoon as well,” he opens his mouth to object, but she puts up a finger to stop Kyle from saying anything and he just snaps his mouth shut again.

 

“Fine,” he agrees. “But they don’t know about my memories do they?” he asks her and she shakes her head, no.

 

“I don’t agree with what they did Kyle, and I assume you’re doing this to find out exactly why, so I’ll go along with you for now.”

 

Kyle nods his head and gets up to look around the room for his shoes. He finds them in a white plastic bag with the words “Patient Clothing” printed on it in large red letters. He opens it up and tips the trainers on the floor. When he sees them he makes a pained noise. They were his white Nike high tops with multi-coloured designs on the toes and up the sides, but they were now splattered in what he could only assume was his blood.

 

“Dammit, I loved these,” he mutters to himself and slips them on his feet easily, tucking the laces into the tops of them instead of tying them like he always did.

 

“We’ll pick up more from the hotel when we’re there,” Tash tells him and he capitulates easily.

 

“Fine, now get me out of here and towards some decently made coffee. If I have one more piss weak cup of Gold Blend, I’m going to go out and torture Tony Head,” he tells his sister, puts his hoody on carefully over his cast and walks out of the room.

 

\---

“Give me your phone,” Kyle says to his sister as she sits down in front of him with a tray full of cups and food.

 

“Please,” Tasha responds immediately and sits herself down opposite him.

 

They had found a Starbucks Drive Thru that Kyle had demanded that she pull into so he could get his coffee and something decent to eat. Tasha had agreed, but as soon as they got into the purpose built building she demanded that he go and sit himself down and she would go and order. He tried to argue, but was told in no uncertain terms that as he had almost died the week before he was to do as she said and he mopes over to the free corner table.

 

“I’m not your children, Natasha,” Kyle says with a dangerous smile on his face and puts his casted hand out for the phone while his left hand grabs at the long awaited coffee. He takes a short sip and savours the bitter taste with a hint of sweetness from cinnamon in the background. “God that’s good,” he sighs and puts the cup down to focus on his other task.

 

He types Dan’s number into the keypad – marvelling at how his sister hadn’t actually caught up with the modern day, still using an old Nokia handset – and hits the dial button. He hopes that he is awake early or at least tries to answer and he isn’t left talking to his voicemail again. He listens to it ring for a few times and then there is a click and silence on the other end of the line.

 

_“…lo?”_ comes the muffled voice on the line and Kyle automatically smiles to himself. He can see Dan in his mind’s eye lying on his stomach and with his face buried in the pillows.

 

“Wow, you really haven’t learned to get better at this waking up thing, eh?” Kyle says, smiling widely down the phone as he says it. He hears shuffling, and sounds of a bed moving and then a yell of pain after a crash before anything else is said.

 

_“Ky?”_ Dan asks down the phone, and Kyle shuffles in his seat slightly so Tasha can’t hear him as well or see his face.

 

“Hi babes,” he says and he can hear Dan catch his breath down the phone.

 

_“How are you ringing me?”_

 

“I’m borrowing Tash’s phone,” Kyle tells him simply. “Listen, I’m out of the ward for the day, and its only Tash here so please can you come and meet me?” he almost pleads down the phone, so desperate he is to speak to and reassure the man he loves.

 

_“Can you really remember everything?”_ Dan asks, almost sceptically down the phone and Kyle wets his lips nervously at the question.

 

“Yeah, pretty much,” he admits.

 

_“Prove it,”_ he challenges and Kyle huffs a laugh at the almost confrontational tone in his voice.

 

“Fine. You’re Daniel Campbell Smith, date of birth 14th July 1986, lead singer of Bas-“

 

_“No, idiot, tell me something you can’t find on Wikipedia.”_

 

“Really?” Kyle asks him with a bit of humour in his voice, now definitely up for the challenge to make Dan as uncomfortable as possible. “We-ell, I fancied you the first moment I laid eyes on you, you kissed me first – in Dublin, in a crappy club, I proposed at a bus stop after you slagged off my brother, I am low key jealous every time a fan even looks at you too long, and you give the most amazing hea-“

 

_“OK! Alright! Stop! I believe you!”_ Dan shouts down the phone, causing Kyle to giggle at his reaction. _“Where are you? I’ll be there soon alright?”_

 

Kyle looks over his shoulder at his sister to get the location of where they were and sees her trying to studiously ignore the conversation he was having. He gets her attention and then the address and relays it to Dan and they say their goodbyes.

 

He turns back round to his sister and hands her phone back to her before he picks up his knife and cuts into the almond croissant in front of him.

 

“Do you know I could have gone the rest of my life without ever hearing any of that conversation,” Tasha intones to him. Kyle cocks his eyebrow and smirks at her as he chews.

 

As he eats another idea suddenly hits him and he puts his hand out to his sister again.

 

“What now?” she asks, almost annoyed.

 

“Can I borrow your phone again?” and she signs and hands it over to him.

 

“You better pay me back for all of my minutes you’re using here,” she says glumly and he looks at her shocked.

 

“You aren’t on an unlimited plan?” and when she shakes her head he just continues to look at her in disbelief and shakes his head. He dials another number and holds it back up to his ear again.

 

“Coop, it’s me – don’t say anything, see Dan before he leaves, he’ll explain. I need a favour…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Gold Blend is a type of instant coffee and Tony Head (Or Anthony Stewart Head for all those Buffy etc fans out there) was one part of a 'couple' used in ads over here in the late 80's early 90's
> 
> All comments welcome! x


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Dan hangs up the phone and rubs his face with his hand. He looks down at the cracked screen of his iPhone and groans to himself as he remembers what had happened the previous night.

 

He had gotten back to the hotel room and scrubbed himself raw in the shower until he felt clean and free of the filth he had felt creeping over his skin. Sitting on the edge of the bed his shivers at the memory of the man’s hands and mouth on him. He can’t believe he had let himself get so low and lonely that he had let himself be carried along in Andy’s infatuation. And karma being the bitch that she is, he immediately finds out that Kyle could remember everything. That was the icing on the cake for him and he crawled into both his bed and the mini bar when he made it back to the room.

 

He finds the complimentary bottle of still water that room service left him every morning and downs half of the bottle to try and get the stale bar taste out of his mouth and reads the messages from his sister saying that she had gotten back to the hotel alright. He shoots of non-committal replies and pulls his trusty skinny jeans towards him. He throws his TKAK t-shirt on and his old black cons with the holes in the soles and ignores the constant gnawing pain in his right hand as he tries to use it.

 

He still thankfully smells relatively fresh from his marathon shower, but he uses the majority of his deodorant before spraying Hugo Boss all over himself and heads out of the door.

 

He gets to the lobby before he hears yelling behind him getting louder the longer he ignores it.

 

“Dan! Seriously mate! You ignoring me or what?” Dan feels a hand on his shoulder and it pulls him round so he is facing the person talking to him.

 

Coop eyes him suspiciously, and Dan knows he’s cataloguing the different signs of how he spent the previous evening.

 

“We need to talk,” he says finally and raises an eyebrow as if daring him to contradict him.

 

They both walk into the breakfasting area and sit down at an empty table. Dan looks around him and notices the place is filled with mainly businessmen and women eating their free breakfasts before heading out to their respective offices for hectic days of meetings and conference calls. He sighs and looks as he sits back in the chair, and looks at his sound man waiting for him to say something.

 

“I had an interesting phone call this morning,” is all Coop says to him and Dan’s eyes widen as he realises that Kyle had obviously rung him as well.

 

“Well considering he doesn’t want his parents to know anything, he’s doing a bang up job of keeping it secret,” Dan exhales sarcastically and rolls his eyes. Coop laughs at the statement.

 

“You know him. He’s like a constant ball of energy, I don’t think he would be able to keep this quiet for long,” and Dan smiles fondly at the man’s description of his fiancé. “He says you’d explain, so I assume I’m to keep this quiet for the time being?”

 

“I think so,” Dan guesses. “That’s where I was just heading, so I suppose I’ll find out soon?”

 

“You going to the hospital?”

 

“No he’s managed to talk his way out of the ward for the day,” and at the admission the other man bursts into giggles.

 

“Of course he has. Do you want me to come with you? I mean you look like shit,” Coop tells him and Dan clutches his chest as if he has been mortally wounded. “Don’t worry, he’ll still love you,” Coop tells him and ruffles his hair.

 

He knows that his friend was only trying to make him feel better about being hungover, but the statement stings him inside. He can feel the flush of shame coming over his face and hopes desperately that Coop mistakes it for embarrassment.

 

Dan accepts his offer to go with him and they start to walk out of the dining area. As the leave they see a familiar trio walking towards them and Dan groans loudly. Coop looks to where the singer is avoiding and notices the older Simmons son and his parents walking towards them.

 

“Dan mate, come one, let’s just ignore them,” Coop encourages and Dan nods in agreement and tries to get past without any kind of confrontation.

 

“Smith,” Adam says as he walks closer, and Dan studiously ignores the man. “Come on Smith, at least acknowledge the damage you did to me!” he shouts as he gets no reaction from the younger man.

 

At that Dan does look at him and notices the two black eyes he now sports and swelling around his nose. He feels quite proud when he realises that he did that – it possibly being the most masculine thing he had ever succeeded in – but quickly looks away again.

 

“Well hope you’ve said everything you wanted to say to Kyle, because you’re never allowed near him again!” Adam calls and Mrs Simmons nods sombrely next to her son. Dan looks at her aghast at the sight.

 

“You’re too unstable dear,” she explains matter of factly. “We don’t want someone like you near him. Who knows what it might do to him?”

 

Coop grabs Dan’s arm before he can react and drags him towards the doors of the hotel where there are a number of taxis waiting to pick up morning fares. He can hear laughing and talking coming from the family, but tries to sooth the anger away from the singer as he walks.

 

They eventually get to the address that Kyle had given Dan over the phone, and Dan pushes the door of the cab open and gets out of it, taking I his surroundings, and possibly trying to put off facing any kind of guilt for as long as possible. Coop walks round the car after paying the driver and claps him on the shoulder.

 

“Ready?”

 

“I think so.”

 

\---

Every time the door to the café opened, Kyle’s head pops up from the table where he is currently scratching designs into the remains of his sister’s cake.

 

“For god’s sake calm down, he’ll be here when he gets here,” Tasha says to him, now getting annoyed with the lack of interaction with her brother since he made the call to his partner.

 

The door squeaks again and Kyle’s head shoots up for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes. Tasha looks at him again, about to try and calm him down, but when she looks up she sees her brother’s face still and then break into the widest grin she had seen on him all week. She glances over to the door and sees Dan and another man walk into the shop.

 

Kyle immediately pushes his seat back and it scratches on the tile floor loudly as he stands up. The noise makes the men at the door look to see where it was coming from and Dan notices Kyle for the first time. The keyboard player strides quickly over to the couple and grabs Dan’s arm before pulling him back out of the door shouting a cursory _“hey Coop”_ as he passes.

 

“What the hell? Kyle?” Dan gasps as he is pulled back out of the way he had literally just come and is pulled around the side of the building and away from windows, cars and prying eyes.

 

Kyle pushes him against the brick wall and crowds into Dan’s personal space. Dan blushes furiously at the familiar action and feels Kyle’s uninjured hand trace over his jaw, nose and eyebrows as if he was trying to relearn everything about him. He looks up into his lover’s eyes and sees the familiarity and clear recognition within the deep brown. If he had had any doubt that the man in front of him was lying about remembering him, that one look would have dispelled any negative thoughts.

 

“Oh god, you’re perfect,” Kyle murmurs to him, and Dan’s heart leaps in his chest. “I am so sorry,” he goes on to say, but Dan brings his own hand up and puts his finger against Kyle’s lips to stop him from saying anything else.

 

“Ky, you can’t be sorry for not remembering anything,” Dan tells him with a small smile.

 

“Well can I at least apologise for whatever my family are up to?” he asks and Dan huffs in agreement.

 

“I don’t think you can be held responsible for that either,” Dan admits quietly, and Kyle shivers as he feels the singer’s breath brush his cheek as he moves closer and closer towards him. “Are you gonna shut up and kiss me now?”

 

That was all Kyle needed and he closes the millimetres between them to press his plump lips against Dan’s and he pulls away after only a few seconds to look at him again. He sees something in his partner’s face, but can’t quite decipher what it is before Dan pulls him back down towards his own mouth and kisses him like he was a man starved.

 

Tongues and lips collide softly and they tease each other, trying to make the moment last as long as possible. They pull away every few moments to catch their breath, but they are almost magnetically pulled back together to continue their passionate embrace.

 

They are eventually broken apart when a door crashes open and an employee walks out with a plastic bag full of rubbish. The young girl is clearly embarrassed as the two of them pull apart like they had been caught doing something illegal, and she smiles at them before going back in through the staff entrance.

 

They glance at each other and are both suddenly feeling shy, but Kyle reaches out for Dan’s hand so they can walk back inside together.

 

It wasn’t until they had returned to the table that Kyle suddenly realises that something is different about the hand he is holding. He looks down to Dan’s right arm and notices the black cast for the first time.

 

“What the actual fuck Dan?” Kyle shouts loudly, earning astonished looks from the people around him. Coop’s shoulder’s shake with silent laughter and Tasha hits him on the shoulder to chastise him for both the language and volume of the comment. Kyle just gives her a dismissive look and turns back to the singer.

 

“Your brother’s nose broke my hand,” Dan says with wide eyes after a few beats of silence and Coops laughter suddenly becomes louder at the comment. Kyle looks at him for a few moments longer and then starts to laugh himself.

 

He calms down after a while and looks back at Dan a bit more seriously. “Are you alright?” he asks him, now concerned for him and Dan just shrugs at him, not really knowing what to say. Kyle leans over and kisses Dan’s temple to show his support and then relaxes back into the seat.

 

“So, I suppose that introductions have already been made, but Tash this is Coop, he’s our sound guy. Coop, Tasha my sister.” Kyle says dismissively and quickly to get the formalities out of the way. “Wasn’t expecting you as well dude, but at least I can explain my request in person…” he continues and they spend the next few hours talking strategy.

 

Leaving Kyle after those hours was a wrench for Dan and he couldn’t believe how much he already missed him when he was still in his presence.

 

Coop and Tash didn’t leave them much space to say goodbye, but they were at least afforded a few moments to hug tightly and kiss each other softly before they could see each other again.

 

Kyle and Tasha were heading to the hotel as well, but they had to go back separately to keep up the ruse that Kyle still hadn’t remembered anything. They climbed into the rented Toyota Rav4, and Dan and Kyle continued to keep their eyes locked on each other until Tasha had driven out of the car park and into the distance.

 

“C’mon mate,” Coop says and elbows Dan in the side to get his attention. “Let’s go find a car somewhere.”

 

Dan nods distractedly and they head out to the main road to hail a taxi.

 

\---

Kyle and Tasha walk into the lobby of the hotel together and he automatically feels uncomfortable not being able to go back to the room he knows all of his things are in.

 

He feels like that one scene in Aladdin where Jasmine is pretending to be crazy to get out of having her hand cut off as Tasha directs him towards his parents and Adam, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from Will and Charlie at the bar.

 

Jools thankfully is also there, and runs over to him when she sees him.

 

“K what are you doing here?” she exclaims when she reaches him and she looks at Tasha with confusion and worry.

 

“He was allowed out for the day so he didn’t get too bored,” Tasha tells her and Jools’ face eases immediately and she relaxes.

 

“Oh that’s good then! Hang on a minute and I’ll come and join you!” she says and turns to go and tell the boys where she was headed.

 

“It’s alright Julia dear,” Kyle’s mum says, appearing as if by magic next to them. “It’s just going to be a small get together with family only,” and she heads off without a backwards glance and clearly expected her children to follow her.

 

Kyle shoots Jools an apologetic look and mouths ‘sorry’ to her before walking after his mum. They settle down in the lounge area of the bar and Kyle tries to relax as much as he can as his father goes to get him a soft drink.

 

“Oh Kyle dear, we should have given Laura a call and she could have met us here! Natasha, her number is in my phone, why don’t you ring her and get her here?” Mrs Simmons suddenly announces and Tasha glances quickly at Kyle who had paled slightly at the request.

 

“Mum, do you think that’s a good idea? I mean Kyle’s not got that long before he has to be back.”

 

“Nonsense! Give her a call dear,” she tells her with a sense of finality and Tasha gets up to make the phone call.

 

Awkward small talk continues and Kyle tries to make sympathetic noises in the right places as Adam explains his version of what happened with his face. He manages to bite his tongue as his mother goes on to despair about the youth of today and what could have possibly possessed the man to punch her perfect son, instead of openly applauding the actions of his friend.

 

He misses Coop and Dan both coming back to the hotel and sneaking past them quickly to Coop’s room to retrieve the thing that Kyle wanted to borrow.

 

“Do you think this will actually work?” Dan asks him as they ride the lift back to the lobby area and the bar.

 

“I don’t know. In theory it should,” Coop tells him and shrugs while he looks at the small microphones he was holding in his hands.

 

“Do I want to know why you even have these?” Dan asks him after a moment and Coop chuckles.

 

“Probably best not to ask,” he tells him with a smirk.

 

The lift dings when it gets to the ground and the doors slide open and they walk back out into the lobby and bar area. Immediately they go over to where the rest of the group have congregated.

 

Dan orders a drink and waits for it to be served and he stares over at the Simmons family sitting at a table in their own little world. He smiles slightly as he sees how clearly bored Kyle is and he wishes silently that he could be over there with him to try and take his mind off of whatever conversation he was being subjected to.

 

He spies his chance to get closer as the table next to theirs clears and he looks at Coop and Will and nods over to it.

 

“Why don’t we go and grab that table guys. My head is killing me,” he tells them and Will looks over to where he has nodded and gives him a sceptical glare.

 

“Really? Do you think sitting right there is a good idea mate?”

 

Dan looks at him, clearly unimpressed and rolls his eyes.

 

“I’ll keep an eye on him Will, let the guy sit down,” Coop says to him, and Will easily relents and they collect their bits and pieces before walking over to the table.

 

Adam notices the group coming towards them and Dan can hear the tutting and loud exasperated noises coming from the man. They make even more disagreeable noises when Coop ‘accidentally’ walks into Tasha’s chair on the way past and knocks her coat off of the back of the chair.

 

“Oh gosh, I am _so_ sorry!” Coop apologises quickly and stoops down at the same time as Tasha to help pick her coat up. He drops the microphones into her hand as he hands the coat over to her and continues on to where the rest of the group has settled.

 

He gives Dan a knowing look and Dan claps him on the shoulder, all the while looking at Kyle who is trying desperately to ignore him.

 

All is going according to plan until a small scream comes from the front of the bar and the brunette girl starts running towards the Simmons’ table and throws her arms around Kyle, much to the disgust of nearly all of the other patrons in the close vicinity.

 

“I can’t believe you’re out of the hospital! It’s so good to see you like this! Oh my baby!” she rambles quickly and kisses Kyle all over his face in delight.

 

Dan flushes with anger and he sees Adam glance over to him and smirk quickly. With Kyle’s back being towards him he can’t see his expression, but the set of his shoulders and the static posture in the chair made Dan confident in the knowledge that he was just as upset as he was.

 

“Uhm, Laura, please not in front of my family?” Kyle says quickly and catches hold of the girl’s wrists and pulls her off of him. Dan can see the flare of lust in her eyes as Kyle restrains her and settles her in the seat next to him.

 

He takes a long drink of the pint of diet coke in front of him and wishes desperately he had some painkillers for the throbbing in his hand and the pounding in his head which was clearly getting worse the longer he was subjected to the false declarations of love coming from the crazed fan at the next table.

 

“You alright mate?” Will asks and catches his eye. Jools is enthralled with the entire performance she is watching and Dan can tell she is just as dumbstruck as he had been the previous day.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dan says and drinks again from his glass. “Hopefully this is all a blip.”

 

He tries to join in with the conversation about the gig that Charlie had managed to line up while they were still in the city and Charlie suddenly stops mid-sentence as he notices his girlfriend walk towards them.

 

“Hi babes!” he says and stands up to give her a welcoming kiss.

 

“Hi honey! Dan this guy says he knows you and Ella said he did so I thought I’d bring him to you?” Sharon says and moves aside to sit on Charlie’s lap due to the lack of seats around the table.

 

Dan looks up directly into the face of the man he was trying desperate to forget. Andy stared back at him with a loving look, still clearly enamoured from the night before. The singer stands up quickly and almost trips over his chair in his haste.

 

“Andy! What are you doing here?” he demands and glances over at Kyle to see if he had noticed anything. Kyle is trying to divide his attention between trying to stave off advances of Laura and see exactly what was going on at the next table.

 

“Well, you said you were going to text, and I haven’t heard from you…” he says, semi quietly as if he was trying to keep it a secret, but desperately wanted everyone around him to know.

 

“Yeah! I…uh…was going to text, yes, uhm, some things came up though so I got distracted…” and Dan trails off, hoping the man was going to get the message.

 

“Oh I understand,” Andy says to him and leers at the man, clearly signposting what he was thinking. “I’ll get away and wait for your text.”

 

Dan exhales in relief as the man starts to walk away from them all and out of the lounge. He doesn’t notice as the doctor stops and turns around again.

 

“Oh, but don’t leave it too long,” he adds loudly. “There’s plenty of things my tongue can do that you didn’t get to experience last night.” And he walks away leaving Dan gobsmacked and dumbstruck staring after him.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright well this chapter got away from me a bit...enjoy! x

Chapter Nineteen

“Oh my god,” a high pitched voice says and then giggles loudly.

 

Dan is catapulted back into the here and now at the noise and he looks over at the girl it came from. Laura is still giggling at what has just happened and has moved closer to Kyle’s chair and is now pressing her face into his shoulder and trying to muffle her hysterical laughter.

 

His gaze runs up to Kyle’s face to assess the severity of the situation, but he is giving nothing away. His expression is cold and almost confused in the same way it had been for the past week whenever Dan had seen him before. He then catches the gleeful look in the eye of Adam and their mother, before Mr Simmons comes back to the table and whispers something to his wife.

 

“Oh, Kyle sweetheart, that was the hospital. We need to get you back,” she says to him, all the while giving a side look to Dan, with a happy smile on her face.

 

Dan watches Kyle nod slowly and stand up from his seat. He picks up his hoody that he had shucked off at some point and manages to pull it over his head. He doesn’t even give a backwards glance to his lover as he follows his parents and siblings out of the room. Dan watches him slide his hand into Laura’s as he walks and Dan immediately starts to walk forward to follow him.

 

A firm hand grabs his wrist and pulls him backwards sternly. He glances down at his arm and then follows the offending arm back to its owner. Coop looks at him seriously and gives a short, curt shake of the head. Dan understands immediately, and even though he hates the idea of Kyle walking out without an explanation he knows that he can’t ruin this just now.

 

Coop drags him back onto his seat and then gets up and walks over to the bar, obviously trying to get him something to make him feel a bit better. Dan starts down at his hands for a moment, trying to marvel at the patterns in his cast, before he finally plucks up the courage to look at his friends around the table.

 

He glances up and the first person he looks at is Jools, who is currently giving him the mother of all death glares and he quickly moves around each of them getting a mixture of confusion and pity from different people.

 

Coop returns with a small tumbler of dark liquid and sets it down in front of Dan. He picks it up and sniffs at the glass and grimaces at the familiar smell of straight Jack. He contemplates it carefully and decides that his day can’t get much worse at this point and downs it in one gulp. He hisses at the burning feeling as it slides down his throat and slams the glass back down on the table before he chooses to acknowledge his friends again.

 

“So…” Charlie tries to start, but is cut off quickly by a noise from Dan’s assistant. They all look towards Jools and wait for her to say something.

 

“You slept with that slimy creep?” she demands finally and Dan can see the fury in her eyes.

 

“Oh, Christ no!” Dan denies furiously. “Absolutely not, I did not have sex with Andy!”

 

“Then what did that little comment mean?” she demands, anger, not abating at all with the exclamations of the singer. She raises her eyebrows at him the longer the silence continues. Dan sighs deeply and looks over to Will for some support.

 

“Jools, do you really think here is where we should discuss this?” Will asks her diplomatically, but Jools puts up a hand to shush the man and Will’s eyes widen at the motion and he just looks over at Dan. “Sorry, mate. I think you’re on your own there.”

 

“Well?” the woman says, her voice getting louder as she gets more frustrated.

 

“He caught me in the bathroom at the movies and blew me against the sink, alright?” Dan finally hisses at her; exhaustion, anger and frustration clearly getting the better of him.

 

Jools stills at the admission and glares forcefully at him. Her face gets redder and redder and she looks as if she might literally blow her lid at any moment.

 

“And you think that’s alright do you?” she says, her voice surprisingly calm considering she was now almost beetroot with rage.

 

“No I don’t fucking think it’s alright! I was drunk, tired and had watched my fiancé ‘cuddle’ with a fan in his hospital bed! Oh, he also can’t remember me or the fact we were in love, and his family want me no-where near him. So yeah, I was lonely and upset and he was there! The last thing I need right now is for Kyle’s _fag hag_ to have a go at me because she’s pissed off herself that he doesn’t want to be with her!”

 

Dan had managed to stand during the vicious rant at the girl and he ended it by kicking his seat back in towards the table and storming off towards the bank of lifts. He punches the call button and waits for the ding to signify the arrival of the car.

 

“Mate, that was harsh,” comes a voice from behind him. Dan looks around and sees Charlie behind him. He shakes his head and looks to the floor as he walks into the lift, and he watches as his friend follows him in.

 

“Charlie, I don’t think I’m gonna be good company today man,” he tells him and Charlie doesn’t say anything. He pats him on the shoulder and gives him a small smile.

 

They stand in silence as the carriage elevates them to the right floor and the doors slide open again. The walk sedately down towards Dan’s room and he unlocks it with the key card and lets his friend walk ahead of him.

 

Dan watches the younger man look around the room and take in the mess that had been left by the singer as he had literally been crawling in and out of bed for the past week and throwing his belongings wherever there was space. Charlie lifts a pile of clothes off of the chair in the corner and settles himself down as he watches Dan uncomfortably move to the bed and sit down on it.

 

“I know it was a stupid thing to do Charlie,” Dan says after a moment and he looks at the other man as he says it. Charlie makes a waving motion with his hand and Dan stops before he says anything else.

 

“Mate, I’m not going to judge you for this. I think you’ve been handling this whole thing pretty well. I don’t know what I would have done if it was Shaz and her family did that to me…and you know her family, so seriously it could happen!” Charlie jokes and despite himself Dan smiles and gives a silent chuckle at the statement.

 

“Thanks, mate,” Dan says to him and gives him a small smile. “How are things with you and Sharon anyway?” he asks him and he watches Charlie’s face break into a wide smile with the thought of her and he blushes slightly.

 

“Good, really good!” he tells him and Dan can see that he’s definitely telling the truth. Dan smiles to himself and feels a pang of jealousy deep inside himself. “I’m thinking of proposing,” Charlie announces quietly and looks up at his friend and mentor shyly, as if looking for his approval.

 

Dan suddenly beams at his friend and gets up and walks towards Charlie, pulling him into a tight embrace, clearly surprising him.

 

“Amazing dude, seriously I’m so happy for you!” Dan assures him into his ear and he feels Charlie relax at his words.

 

“Thanks, Dan,” he says to him as they part and Dan slaps him on the back. “Having your support for this means a lot to me.” And Dan scoffs at the admission from his friend.

 

“No seriously mate,” Charlie tells him, and Dan looks up and sees the gravity in his statement. “You know my family aren’t the most…well you know,” and Dan hums in agreement.

 

Dan didn’t know the exact details behind it all but he knew that at some point in the recent past Charlie and his family had fallen out and they weren’t exactly thrilled with either his lifestyle or choice of career. He didn’t want to pry into why, but he and Kyle had both decided that they wanted to take Charlie under their wing – almost like a younger brother.

 

“I know,” Dan tells him, letting him get away with not saying anything else about it.

 

A tone comes from Charlie’s pocket and he pulls his phone out and reads the message he had received.

 

“I better get back,” he says after smiling at his phone. Dan smirks at him.

 

“Yeah, the ball and chain wondering where you are?” he says and Charlie laughs at the joke and nods furiously.

 

“I’ll talk to them alright?” Charlie assures him and Dan nods. “And I’ll make sure you didn’t upset Jools too much,” he adds and Dan looks at him gratefully as he walks him to the door.

 

After Charlie leaves he looks at his phone an obscene number of times to see if Kyle has somehow managed to get in touch with him again. He groans when he sees he has had absolutely no contact from anyone and he throws his phone on the bed and watches the smashed screen bounce as it lands.

 

He scrubs his free hand down his face and decides he needs to nap to try and pass the time until Kyle deigns it necessary to get in touch in some way - if he ever wants to talk to him again. That thought carries him off into a fitful and dreamless slumber.

 

\---

Dan jerks awake some time later and he sits up immediately, unsure exactly what had caused him to break out of the darkness. He looks around and notices the neon red numbers on the side table alarm clock showing 22:38. He grumbles to himself, but soon realises the tinny music coming from his phone meaning an unknown number was ringing him.

 

He fumbles in the dark for the shape of his phone and pulls it to his face, hoping desperately that Kyle had managed to find another phone to ring him on. He feels his hopes drop as he sees the number on the phone starts (+1) and he rubs his eyes to make himself feel more awake as he answers the phone.

 

“Hello, Dan speaking,” he answers politely. The only people ringing from the States would be something to do with work so he knows he has to be professional.

 

“Heeeey! Daniel how are you doing?” comes the familiar west coast accent down the phone into his ear and Dan’s eyes immediately roll as he hears his friends voice.

 

“Lucian, long time no hear, how are ya?” he counters, trying to avoid the question that would lead to a very long story.

 

“Going well dude, going well! You never replied to my email,” he says, sounding slightly upset.

 

Lucian was a song writer and producer he had met during their last visit to the US. They hit it off really well, and he had actually been the only one Dan had confided his relationship with Kyle to – well he had guessed and Dan hadn’t denied it.

 

“Yeah, I saw it came in, but I seem to have left my laptop somewhere so I couldn’t get round to looking at it mate,” he tells him apologetically. He pulls himself into an upright position and leans agains the head of the bed to wake himself up a bit.

 

“Really? Aw man, that sucks. You got a lot of work on it?” he asks and Dan realises what he has said, and how it must have come across to the other man.

 

“Oh, no I know where it is, I just can’t get to it right now,” he tells him cagily and Lucian automatically notices something is off.

 

“Tell me,” the older man says to him seriously down the phone – his short hand for saying _‘I know what’s going on, tell me now so I don’t find out some other way’._

Dan sighs loudly and pulls the phone away from his ear to look at it. He sees the photo of him and Kyle he has as his background and puts the phone back to his ear and starts from the beginning.

 

Once the entire story had been told, he sighs again and waits for his friend’s reaction. The silence on the end of the phone makes him worry and Dan checks to see if he hasn’t accidentally hung up on him.

 

“Luc? You still there?” he asks finally. A long breath is let out on the other end of the phone in response.

 

“Dan…I thought you Brits were meant to be boring man?” he says finally, and Dan laughs loudly at the unexpected reaction. There is a faint knock at the door and he rolls himself lazily off of his bed to walk towards the door in the darkened room.

 

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Dan says jovially down the phone as he grabs the handle and opens his room door.

 

He looks to see who it is and he stills and almost drops the phone. In front of him is the one person he wants to see and talk to above all others. Kyle stares at him with his soulful dark eyes and Dan’s heart almost melts when he sees a hint of hurt in the expression.

 

“Luc, I’ll have to ring you tomorrow,” he says down the phone and he doesn’t even wait for a response as he hangs the phone up and tucks it into his back pocket, not even taking his eyes off of the man in front of him.

 

He holds the door open for him and Kyle strides inside confidently. Dan reaches up for where he knows the light switch and the room is bathed in bright yellow light, making the singer wince in response.

 

Dan watches as Kyle paces back and forth in front of him and he edges around him – almost like he was a caged tiger – and moves to the end of the bed and perches on it, waiting to be shouted at.

 

“Who is he?” Kyle finally asks, calmer than Dan expected. Dan swallows thickly before answering.

 

“Andy,” he says simply. “He was the doctor that admitted you after your accident.” Kyle looks up sharply at the admission and his eyes narrow at the thought.

 

“So what did he do with his tongue that you _have_ experienced then?” And Dan looks at him closely.

 

“Kyle…”

 

“Tell me Dan.”

 

Dan licks his lips and then bites down hard on his lower one, trying to decide exactly what would be best to say.

 

“He had been flirting with me since he admitted you, and I was pretty much ignoring it, but we were at a movie night last night and he was plying me with a lot of drinks.” Kyle nods at the admission and waits for Dan to continue. “I went to the loo and he came in too and he caught me at a low moment. It’s not an excuse, but I was seriously beginning to think that you were never going to remember me and I was lonely. It didn’t mean anything, Ky, I promise!”

 

“Did you fuck him? Or did he fuck you?” Kyle asks plainly.

 

“No! God no! He blew me and we kissed, that was it, I absolutely promise! I regretted it immediately and nothing else was ever going to happen!” Dan had stood up and walked over to Kyle who had stilled in the room with his hands on his slim hips and was looking at the floor.

 

Dan puts his hands up towards Kyle’s face, to cradle him and make him look at him to prove what he was saying was true, but Kyle catches his hands in his own. He was clearly used to his own cast as he moved his right hand as if it had nothing on it and he forcefully held Dan wrists and stared straight into his eyes.

 

“Did you like it?” Kyle asks him sternly and Dan looks at him again, not knowing what to say. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish and no sound comes out. “Well?” Kyle demands and Dan still doesn’t know how to answer. Kyle notices and his eyes soften ever so slightly.

 

“Let me ask another way,” he says finally, his voice dropping seductively and Dan starts at the change. “Was he as good as me?”

 

Dan feels himself being marched backwards – Kyle’s grip still on his wrists, but he was too surprised to put up any fight now. He feels the backs of his legs hit the bed and Kyle tilts his head at him, clearly waiting for an answer to his question.

 

“Baby, you gotta tell me whether he was better than me,” Kyle says again, his voice now husky and Dan’s arousal was getting the better of him even though he knows it is not the time to feel it. Kyle moves forward into his face and moves as if he is going to kiss him, but at the last minute he turns his head and leans towards his ear.

 

“Do you need me to remind you?” he says finally and Dan shivers up and down his spine. Unlike the previous evening where the shiver had been one of disgust, now it pure excitement and he couldn’t help himself. He nods, not trusting his voice and Kyle raises both eyebrows and winks at his as he forcefully pushes him down on the bed, legs hanging off of the end.

 

Kyle sinks to the thick carpet on the floor and rubs his hands up and down Dan’s slim legs from the ankle all the way to the thigh. He reaches up and undoes the belt and then the button keeping the jeans up and roughly pulls them down to his feet. He wasn’t going to waste time with pulling them off completely and he starts to nip and kiss up the inside of one leg all the way to Dan’s hip before sinking his teeth in and sucking a large bruise onto the peak of his hip bone. Dan jerks his hips forward at the intense feeling and Kyle huffs a laugh at the reaction.

 

“Got to remind you who you belong to baby,” Kyle says possessively and Dan feels his cock filling up at the words and the sensations currently happening below his waist.

 

Kyle moves to the other side and does exactly the same before leaving a matching mark on the other hip. He rocks backwards to admire his work and he looks towards the dick waiting for him and his smirks up at Dan who is now watching him with lust blown eyes from the top of the bed.

 

“You like this baby?” he asks and Dan just nods emphatically in response. “Did he treat you like this baby? Did he know what you liked?” Kyle growls and he surges forward, squeezing his hands under his lover’s hips and getting a handful of Dan’s pert ass in each hand before leaning in and immediately sucking at the head of the cock bobbing in front of him.

 

As soon as he feels the intense suction on his dick, Dan moans filthily above him and throws his head back agains the mattress. He can’t help bit compare it to the man from the previous evening and the difference is like night and day. Andy was sloppy and unskilled, whereas Kyle…well Kyle knew how to use his tongue.

 

He had now released the head and was licking up from Dan’s balls to the top again, stopping to tongue the slit and lick up all of the waiting pre-come sitting as if it was waiting for him. He releases it again and then goes back to his balls, paying each one special attention before he manages to lift his hips ever so slightly and lick the sensitive skin sitting behind the sack. At the feeling, Dan’s eyes roll right back into his head and he stops comparing his fiancé to anyone else. All he could think of in the moment was this man and this mouth and nothing else was ever going to come close to it.

 

He feels the wetness engulfing him again and he knows what is coming next. He had always been amazed at his lack of gag reflex and this time was no exception. He swallowed all of Dan’s cock down and Dan could feel the head hits the soft palate at the back of the throat and he could feel Kyle’s nose hit the soft bristle of pubic hair at his base.

 

He is lost in sensation of warmth and excitement when he feels something poking at his own mouth and he opens up willingly. He realises quickly that it is Kyle’s fingers and he sucks greedily on them in rhythm with the suction he is feeling on his dick. Kyle pulls his fingers out quickly when he finds them wet enough and Dan starts to feel the gentle probing at his entrance. He feels the man softly encircle the ring of muscle and Dan is surprised when Kyle expertly swallows around him, with a very slight suction and then breaches the muscle immediately hitting the sweet spot waiting for him.

 

Dan is done for. His vision whites out, he feels polling of heat in his stomach and all he can get out is a soft _‘uh, uh, uh’_ , before he can feel himself releasing into the mouth surrounding him.

 

Kyle continues to suck on his dick until he can feel the release ending and knows that Dan will start to get sensitive quickly to the stimulation. He pulls off almost completely and licks any remaining fluid from the head of the cock before rocking back on his heels and heading into the bathroom.

 

Dan whimpers at the loss of heat and worries quickly about where his lover has gone. He pulls himself forward and rests on his forearms, feeling spent and tired, but forcing himself to see where Kyle has gone.

 

The taller man returns quickly with a wet towel and he cleans Dan up gently and quickly with the white material. He throws the towel back toward the door of the bathroom and the pulls Dan’s jeans and underwear back up and tucks him back in.

 

He stays kneeling on the floor in front of him and looks up at Dan with a smirk on his face.

 

“So, baby. Tell me. Was he as good as me?” and Dan shakes his head no, leading Kyle to smile indulgently in return. “Didn’t think so,” he says and gets off the floor and sits next to him on the bed.

 

There is silence as Kyle curls up next to Dan and hugs him tightly and closely before Dan turns his head to look at him.

 

“There are so many questions in my head right now,” he says and Kyle just hums sleepily. “The first is are we OK?”

 

Kyle doesn’t move for a minute but sighs when he finally lean up on his arm to look ad Dan. He runs his good hand over Dan’s features like he had that morning and smiles at him.

 

“I can’t blame you for feeling lonely. And I don’t know what I would have done if I had seen you in bed with some fan,” he says. “All I know is I love _you_ , you big giant dork, and I can forgive you this.”

 

Dan nods and smiles the first genuine smile he has in days before lying his head back down. They had a lot more to talk about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucian in an actual song writer and producer! His name is Lucian Piane...I have no idea if they know each other...in my head they do!! x
> 
> Comments and kudos please....I really don't mean to beg! x


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

“So you are going to have to tell me how you’re back here,” Dan finally says, breaking off the slow make out session they had slipped into after Kyle had readily accepted the man’s profuse apology.

 

Kyle groans and throws himself back on to the bed and away from the other man. He pinches the bridge of his nose and rubes his hands down his face, scratching at the stubble slowly growing on his chin.

 

“God, don’t make me think about it, please!” he begs petulantly and he pouts at his fiancé. Dan reaches up and grabs his chin before kissing the look off of his face and nipping at his lower lip.

 

“Kyle, am I about to get a knock on the door from the police looking for you?” Dan asks, suddenly serious and trying to think up a reason why his amnesiac friend who was meant to have no recollection of him was lying on his king size hotel room bed.

 

Laughing loudly, Kyle just shakes his head and gets comfortable with his head on the pillow behind his head.

 

“Nah. They discharged me this evening,” he says matter of factly. “Apparently they think that being around family might help my recovery time. I’m to go in for assessment every day at three and if there’s no improvement after a week they’ll refer me back down to London and wash their hands of me.”

 

“So you’re gonna tell them it’s all back, right?”

 

“Dan, you know I want to know why they’ve done all this,” Kyle replies angrily. “This is my life they tried to destroy here.”

 

“But you could ask them surely? Once they know you know what’s happened they’ll have to tell you.” Dan tries to reason calmly.

 

“Oh come on babe! This is the woman who sent me off on a date the weekend I took you home to officially meet them! You think she’ll actually tell me the truth?”

 

“So you’re going to spy on them and pretend you know nothing then?” Dan counters and glares at him.

 

“You know I want to be with you Dan, but I need to know the reason! It’s one week. If I get nothing come the last day I promise I will tell them.” Dan rolls his eyes as Kyle gives him his patented pleading face he can never resist.

 

“Fine.” He agrees after a moment’s silence. “What do you want me to do?”

 

“We-ell,” Kyle drags the word out and Dan knows already he’s not going to like what comes next.

 

“What?”

 

“You’re not gonna like this…”

 

“I’m getting that Ky.”

 

“Mum and dad are moving Laura through here tomorrow…apparently it will help me settle down having her here…and me and her are gonna be staying in the same room,” Kyle finally spits out and Dan feels his face getting redder and redder as the explanation continues.

 

“You fucking kidding me?” he hisses angrily.  He knows he’s being a hypocrite considering what Kyle had just forgiven him for, but he can’t help it.

 

“Dan, nothing is going to happen between me and her. No matter what she tries alright?” Kyle tries to comfort him. Dan nods slowly, but he can see that his words are barely helping. “Maybe you should try and keep in contact with that doctor as well for the week?” he adds in softly, and waits for the fireworks to start. To his surprise, Dan just goes very quiet and looks at him.

 

“Ky, I don’t want to lead him on,” he says sombrely. He can still see the happiness in Andy’s face the previous day. “I seriously think he likes me, and I feel like crap that I let him do anythi-“

 

“Baby, babes, calm down,” Kyle says and crawls over to Dan and straddles his hips to get his attention focused on him. “I’m not saying to lead him on, but maybe invite him over for drinks with the group a couple of times or something? Just to keep up appearances?”

 

“I’ll think about it,” he says and goes quiet again. Kyle bends forward to try and make eye contact and when he does he makes sure he kisses him slow and passionately, making Dan know that he is all that Kyle has ever wanted.

 

A loud banging on the room door breaks them apart and Dan jumps in surprise.

 

“Shit!” he curses loudly and Kyle scrambles off of him so he can get up before the banging causes complaints to the front desk.

 

Dan rushes to the door and peeks through the spy hole to see who is trying to get him up and he sees Kyle’s brother glaring at the door as if it had offended him in some way.

 

“It’s Adam,” he whispers to his partner and Kyle quickly looks around to see the best place to hide. “Get in the fucking bathroom Kyle!” Dan hisses and waves a hand towards him to get him out of the way.

 

The bathroom door closes softly and Dan takes a deep breath in before exhaling slowly to calm his nerves. He walks to the door after messing his hair up again to make it look like he had just woken up.

 

“Uhm…Adam? You alright?” Dan says, convincingly confused as the older man storms past him and starts to look around the room.

 

“Is he here?” Adam demands as he starts to pull back curtains to check all of the corners.

 

“Who?”

 

“Kyle is he here?” Adam asks again.

 

“Why would Kyle be here Adam? He’s in the hospital isn’t he?” Dan asks, believably dumbfounded.

 

“No, he’s been discharged. He’s not in the room with me obviously. I thought you might have brought him back here and gone against what we all agreed,” he accuses and glares at him.

 

“I’ve not done anything,” Dan claims angrily. “You’re the one who’s let a fan in and pretend like they’re dating and not done anything to dissuade her.”

 

“She tells us they are a couple as well and we happen to believe her,” Adam counters and Dan scoffs at the statement.

 

“So you’ll let her tell him things, but not me?”

 

“Look, I’m not here to argue with you of all people. I’ve got my brother to find who is probably wandering lost around this hotel and I have to find him,” Adam shouts and strides to the door, flinging it open and then slamming it behind him.

 

After a moment, Kyle emerges from the bathroom eyes wide and walks quickly over to Dan and holds him close.

 

“Has he been talking to you like that the whole time?” he murmurs into Dan’s hair, and Kyle feels the head beneath his chin nod gently. “I am so proud of you for breaking his nose,” Kyle says and kisses his temple softly.

 

\---

Kyle disappears quickly after he is sure Adam is not lurking around the corridor waiting to catch him sneaking out of the room he is meant to have no knowledge of. The two of them kiss for the last time at the door and Dan watches him slink off into the night.

 

He turns back to the bed and stares at it. He can feel it mocking him now that Kyle is no longer in it and he hates how empty the room now feels. Sighing to himself he pulls his t-shirt over his head and takes his jeans off before heading to the en-suite for a quick shower to clean up after everything that had happened over the past few hours.

 

He lets the water run over his body, but instead of feeling the need to scrub himself clean as he had the previous night, he lets it relax him so he can try and get some more sleep. He emerges from the steamy room with a white towel around his waist and he starts to unwrap the plastic he had managed to get around his cast.

 

He spies his phone on the bed and he starts to form an idea in his head. He pulls on a pair of electric blue boxers with the word ‘geek’ emblazoned on the front in bright yellow letters – a gag gift from Woody a few years earlier – and relaxes back onto his pillows with his iPhone.

 

He taps in his passcode and immediately loads up the twitter app. He hasn’t been onto the social media site since Kyle’s accident, not wanting to face the barrage of messages he was sure to have from well-wishers and fans wanting to get updates on his condition. Anyone who needed to know already knew, and even though he loved the fans, it was really none of their business at the moment.

 

However, he does decide to leave a quick message on his time line to let them all know that he was still around. Knowing that one thing was not going to be hidden for long, he snaps a quick selfie of himself with his black plaster and thinks about what to caption it with.

 

_@bastilledan – it’s going to be hard to write music with this!_

Is what he decides on and hits send. He watches the blue status bar fill the top of the screen and goes back to looking for his target.

 

There was no way that he was going to trawl through all one million of his followers or even the seventy thousand odd of Kyles, so he heads to Kyle’s timeline first to see what he could find. Clicking into the likes tab he starts to slowly scroll down what his fiancé had liked recently and what he had commented on. He could only think that this girl had become so obsessed because he had said something to her or engaged with her in some way, so it was the best place to start.

 

Eventually, after about an hour of constant scrolling, he finds what he thinks he’s looking for. The profile picture isn’t of the girl, but the screen name is ‘Laura’ and the username is @kylelovesme96.

 

_@kylelovesme96 – I don’t believe what theyre saying, they arent together. Its obvious its all made up by Dan for publicity_

And then there are a few angry face emojis following it. It had obviously been left after their now iconic kiss in Cornwall and there were a few people agreeing with her and quite a few more arguing with the girl.

 

Then he notices the comment that had clearly gotten the most attention. His fiancé – and he loved him, but god he was an idiot sometimes – had decided that he wanted to add in his opinion. It was short. It was sarcastic. It was Kyle all over, but the girl had gone ecstatic and started typing reply after reply trying to get him to talk back.

 

Mentally face palming and deciding he really needed to have yet another talk with Kyle about how not to engage with the crazy fans online, he clicks into the girl’s profile to see what information he would be able to gather.

 

_“This accounts tweets are protected”_

“Aw shit,” he mutters to himself. He prides himself on being able to stalk through his fan’s pages, but he hates it when they are protected. Especially this particular one, and when he knows they are big fans he starts to get suspicious.

 

He puts his phone down next to him for a moment and thinks to himself. He picks up his phone again and opens a new WhatsApp message.

 

_Dan – Luc, need a big favour man. Can I get a lend of like a really amateur selfie of you? Not gonna use it for anything bad._

 

He sends the message and waits for the one tick to turn to two. Then he sees as his friend’s status goes to online as he reads the message and then he sees:

 

_Luc is typing…_

He waits for what feels like and age before he gets a response.

 

_Luc – don’t tell me. I want plausible deniability._

And almost immediately after comes a photo message. Dan clicks on it to have a closer look and there in front of him is the face of his friend. It is clearly a selfie and from a couple of years ago. His hair is completely brown instead of the slight smattering of silver his brown locks now possess. He has some stubble and his hair is spiked on to. He is wearing a crew neck t-shirt with mint green and grey stripes and is smiling at the camera.

 

While he is clearly young and attractive in the photo, it is nothing like his publicity shots and no one would know who he was if they didn’t know him already.

 

He shoots of a quick thank you to his friend and goes back onto the app to create a new profile to link to his account. He makes up some generic sounding name and he posts a few things quickly to make himself seem more genuine. He starts to follow himself and the rest of the group and he follows other bands like Imagine Dragons and Muse.

 

He tags @bastilledan in a few things and retweets some random twitter memes to make himself seem thoughtful and then immediately starts to follow a number of other bastille fans, ending with @kylelovesme96.

 

Almost immediately his request is accepted and he is followed back by Laura. He almost shouts in delight as he clicks onto her profile to see what is there.

 

Scrolling through the first number of days there is nothing of interest. Reposting of some Bastille lyrics, some photos of the gig for the NSPCC and one post calling for him to let Little Mix release Pompeii, which makes him even more determined not to do it. Suddenly one post catches his eye. He will never forget why he knows that tag.

 

_@kylelovesme96 - @charcharbas #kjs!=! is a go!_

“I’m going to _fucking kill_ that woman!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, really not begging but....comment and kudos make me write faster!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Kyle stands at the door and glares at the number 213 printed happily on it. It appeared to be mocking him in some way, knowing what was to come next.

 

\---

 

He had been awoken that morning to a shove and light streaming directly into his face. He had cracked open one eye and saw his brother storming around the room getting ready. He had shut his eye tightly again, rolled onto his front and pulled his pillow over his head to try and go back to sleep.

 

Adam had been incredibly angry by the time he had returned to the room the previous night, and when he had seen Kyle sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the door, he looked as if he would burst a blood vessel in his head. He had interrogated him for about half an hour before Kyle had eventually started to ignore him and climbed into bed to sleep. He had made up some story about wanting to look around the place now he wasn’t being watched constantly and Adam seemed to have bought it.

 

Under the material and in the darkness, Kyle had smirked to himself as he remembered the look on his lover’s face when he had pushed him back on the bed and reminded him exactly why he was with him. He desperately wanted to wake up next to him again, but he was able to wait the week to find out exactly what his family was hiding from him.

 

He had suddenly felt a rush of cold air over his body as the covers were whipped off of him quickly.

 

“Hey!” he yelled loudly, and tried to blindly grab for the duvet to pull back over him.

 

“For god’s sake, get up and get ready,” his brother growled at him, frustrated.

 

“I don’t want to! Fuck Adam, let me sleep,” Kyle countered and pulled his pillow off of his head so he could glower at him.

 

“You really are 19 again aren’t you,” Adam muttered and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

 

A knock at the door meant that Kyle actually had to get out of bed as he was the only one available to answer it. He climbed out of the double bed and padded to the door in his boxers. He pulled it open without checking who it was and was met with the smiling face of his parents and his sister. He held the door open and they all crowded into the room quickly.

 

“Hi everyone,” he said and walked over to his stuff to pull on his NASA t-shirt and some jeans.  His parents ignored him and moved to sit on the sofa in the corner of the room to talk and wait for Adam to appear.

 

Tasha walked over to him as he sprayed deodorant around himself and gave him an appraising look. Kyle glanced up and saw her watching him. He looked quickly over to the laptop bag in the corner of the room.

 

“Uhm, I don’t know who’s this is, but it’s not mine,” he said to no one in particular and he walked over to the bag and held it up. Tasha walked over to get it while Mrs Simmons watched the interaction. Kyle whispers _‘it’s Dan’s’_ quietly into his sister’s ear and she looked at him with wide eyes before taking it and walking back to the bed.

 

She opened it quickly and took a cursory look inside before looking at her parents.

 

“I know who it belongs to. I’ll take it to him today, it looks important,” she announced and walked out of the door quickly before anyone could object.

 

Kyle managed to fake a look of innocence and confusion and looked at his mum.

 

“So what’s the plan for today then?” he asked finally and his dad looked up at him.

 

“Well, Laura is coming over this morning. We’ve already booked you two into a room together so you can move in there when she gets here. Adam will be happy because Lorraine will be back up to stay with him tonight too.”

 

Kyle looked at his dad and suddenly remembered he was meant to have no idea who his sour sister in law is.

 

“Lorraine?” he finally asked and he looks at his mother.

 

“Oh! You won’t know her!” she exclaimed and suddenly looks very happy. “She is Adam’s wife. I’m sure you’ll absolutely adore her like we all do!” and Kyle had to stop himself from exploding with laughter at the extreme statement because he knew for a fact that Tasha couldn’t stand the woman.

 

\---

So all of this is how he had ended up outside of room 213. He had been force fed a ridiculously large breakfast; endured the re-introduction to his sister in law; visited the consultant and faked his memory loss and now he was here - glaring at the innocuous object and numbers, and trying to pluck up the courage to enter the room.

 

He has his left hand hovering over the door in a fist and is about to knock, and then Adam just pushes up to him and nudges him out of the way before he swipes the key card for him and pushes the door open.

 

Adam pushes him inside and Kyle looks around the large room he is faced with. It is surprisingly bigger than the room he and Dan had been sharing, and the single super king size bed in the middle of it is looming large as life at him. He gulps and swallows audibly and he misses the way the Adam smirks at him.

 

“So I wonder where your gorgeous lady is?” Adam says loudly and as if she was summoned, Laura appears at the doorway of the en suite and is staring at Kyle like she was starving and he was a hearty meal.

 

Adam grabs Kyle’s bags from him and dumps them on the sofa in the window area before walking over to the door of the room. He looks over his shoulder quickly before leaving.

 

“You kids have fun now!” he says, with obvious innuendo and disappears like magic.

 

The slam of the door breaks through the silence in the room and Kyle looks around to get his bearings. He finally looks at Laura, still standing in the bathroom doorway, and the current situation fully dawns on him.

 

The girl is looking at him with lust in her eyes. Her pupils have blown wide and she has almost no colour left in her eyes. Kyle clears his throat quickly and moves over to his stuff that had been dumped by his brother and starts to fuss with his belongings.

 

He can sense her move around behind him and he finally feels her warm breath on the back of his neck. She is almost a head shorter than him, but he feels a heaviness on his shoulder as she clearly moves forward to lean her forehead on him and then she wraps her arms around his middle and clasps her hands at his front. Kyle freezes and tenses up almost immediately at the touch.

 

She makes a small happy sigh, and Kyle decides he has to get her away from him quickly before she tries to get any further. He steps forward and the sudden movement breaks the clasped hands and she whines embarrassingly as he moves away from her, giving her a small apologetic smile as he moves.

 

“Sorry babes,” he says, trying to go for sympathetic, but not quite sure whether he hits the mark or not.

 

He takes a quick look at her up and down and marvels at how little clothing she is wearing considering it is the middle of autumn and the temperature it is outside. She is wearing a pair of jeans shorts, but they are barely covering her backside and she has no shoes on. Her top is made of pink and cream floaty material, but is obviously a shirt to show off her midriff and she seems to be pushing her breasts out towards the man as she just stands and looks at him.

 

“Doctors have told me that until my ribs are fixed I can’t do anything physical,” he tells her eventually, after desperately trying to come up with a plausible excuse.

 

“Oh no!” she whines loudly, and pouts at him, and looks back up at him through her long, false eyelashes. “So when do you think that might be?” she goes on to ask, trying to be as seductive as possible and Kyle just looks at her blankly.

 

“Huh?” he asks, ever so eloquently and looks at her again.

 

“When do you think we _will_ be able to do anything…physical?” she asks him, moving slowly towards the man, and biting her bottom lip to make herself appear sexier.

 

“Oh, I’m not too sure. Probably after they’ve given me the all clear,” he says and moves over to the bathroom door himself. “I’ve got to go…in here,” he says as he looks around frantically and rushes into the small room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He releases a massive sigh of relief and sits himself down on the lid of the toilet with his head in his hands.

 

Looking around the bathroom, he notices a rather luxurious bath tub in the room and he decides to start running it to take up more time for himself. He shouts out to the girl that that is what he was planning on doing and he waits for it to fill up. He throws whatever shower gel is lying around the space in with it and watches the bubbles get higher and higher with the steam rising.

 

It takes ten minutes to run the bath and once it is the perfect temperature he manages to strip and carefully get into it, making sure that his cast doesn’t get anywhere near the water. He relaxes back and dips his head into the warmth quickly to wet his hair and he resurfaces with a small splash.

 

He sits in silence for a moment and then he realises he can hear murmuring on the other side of the locked door. He can only hear one voice and presumes that Laura is now talking to someone on her own phone. He tries to sit as still as possible and he manages to tune in to the frequency of the woman talking.

 

“…hang on, I’m going to put you on speaker…nah, he’s in the bath he can’t hear anything,” she says to the other person, clearly not knowing exactly how thin the walls in these hotels were. There is a beat of silence before the talking starts again.

 

“Are you still there?”

 

_“Yup, I’m here. Are you sure he can’t hear anything?”_ another female voice says down the phone. Kyle thinks he recognises it, but he can’t be too sure and it is slightly too quiet for him to make out properly.

 

“Char, seriously, he can’t hear anything.”

 

_“Fine. So what’s the update? You got him in the sack yet?”_ the other girl asks Laura, and Kyle just rolls his eyes to himself.

 

“No!” she complains back down the phone. “I just tried and he said that he’s been told he can’t do anything until his ribs heal,” she explains to her and Kyle hears a noise which he can only assume is a sound of frustration from her friend.

 

_“You have to though! Laura if you don’t do this, I don’t get mine either!”_

 

“Charlene! I know this alright! You’ll be fine and I’ll be fine! He has no idea who I am or who any of the rest of them are. It’s perfect and I have his family wrapped around my little finger! I have no idea why they want to believe me but they do! Tell your dad it’s all perfect yeah?” Laura tries to calm down her friend on the other end of the phone.

 

_“I will. Also got some good news on the other front. Email came through and they’ve agreed for dad to release the song!”_

 

“Oh Em Gee,” Laura cries down the phone and Kyle hears her friend shush her quickly. “Char that’s amazing! So we’ll be able to see them go and perform that song live and maybe dance with them too?! This is all working out perfectly!” she whispers loudly.

 

Kyle decides he’s heard enough so he grunts and groans as if he is having difficulties getting up and he can hear the hurried goodbyes behind the door before a knock occurs and he a sweet voice almost sings through the door.

 

“Kyle? Honey-bunny?” and Kyle almost throws up with the endearment. “Are you alright in there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good, just getting up now!” he shouts back through the door.

 

“Good, because I think your mum and dad want us all to meet up for something to eat soon!”

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Kyle mutters to himself as he gets himself dressed.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, well this turned into a bit of a monster, but couldn't actually figure out a place to split it! Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Links in the end notes for any songs mentioned. xx

Chapter Twenty Two

Dan is sitting in the dining room having breakfast and glaring at his broken phone screen when Tasha approaches him with his backpack. He watches as she comes closer to his table and sits opposite him without being asked.

 

“It’s a bit dangerous to sit down right there isn’t it?” Dan asks her before taking a sip of his freshly poured coffee and setting his mobile down in front of him on the table.

 

“Nah,” Tasha replies. “They’re all up in Adam’s room waiting for them to get ready. Kyle asked me to bring this to you,” she adds and points to the bag now sitting at her feet.

 

“Awesome. I can actually do some work this afternoon then,” he says, taking another sip and noticing the rest of his friends walking over to meet up for breakfast.

 

Coop raises an eyebrow when he notices Tasha, but just nods a quick hello before heading over to the buffet with Charlie and Sharon. Will sits next to the singer and claps him on the back in greeting, and Ella and Tyler both settle down with a glass of fruit juice each and help themselves to the toast that had already been supplied to the table.

 

Tasha gives Dan a quick wink as she stands from the seat, and he sees his lover in the gesture and smiles softly to himself.

 

“Karaoke!” Dan suddenly announces and Tasha spins on her heel to look at him with a confused expression on her face. “The hotel is having a karaoke night. Kyle might enjoy it? Might help with his memory a bit,” he adds on and smiles at her again.

 

“I’ll see what we can do,” she says and Dan watches her head back to the rooms.

 

“Oh yay!” Ella exclaims. “I get to be part of the infamous Karaoke groups you keep going on about!” and Dan rolls his eyes at her.

 

“No alcohol, no risqué songs or moves,” he says to her, pointing his index finger as he says it. Ella responds by sticking her tongue out and giving him the finger.

 

The others re-join the table and tuck into their own food and Dan looks around his friends and realises Jools is missing. He mentions it to the others around him.

 

“Yeah, she said she’s busy or doing something,” Charlie tells him, with his mouth half full of scrambled eggs. “I had a word with her and said you were just really frustrated, mate,” he adds after swallowing the food.

 

Dan replies with a small nod and a smile and he picks his phone up again.

 

_Dan – Karaoke tonight if you want to join us?_

 

He shoots off quickly to his assistant and he waits for a reply, which comes quite quickly.

 

_Jools – will think about it_

 

And Dan decides he should take what he gets with this one. He wasn’t going to apologise. She should have realised that she was pushing the point too hard, especially when he was her boss.

 

He pushes the chair back from the table and picks his bag up. He gets strange looks from everyone at the table, but he just gives them all a small wave and heads back out to the lobby. He had a phone call to make, but before he was able to type in the number he hears the tip tapping of light footsteps running up behind him.

 

“Bro, wait up,” Ella shouts, even though by the time she says it she is standing right behind him. Dan turns and gives her a wide eyed glare as he pretends to be deafened. “Yeah, right ‘cos that caused your deafness,” she sasses and rolls her eyes at him.

 

“What do you need titch?” he asks her kindly, but secretly annoyed he wasn’t able to make this awkward call.

 

“Just wanted to make sure you were alright? I found out about that Andy guy,” she tells him and Dan feels his face heat up and he knows that there is now a scarlet flush spreading across his cheeks.

 

“Great! Just what I needed to add to this year, my baby sister not only trying to sleep with my fiancé but now knowing intimate details about my sex life,” he says sarcastically and watches Ella’s face also start to blush. He didn’t feel proud of that, but his automatic defence was always attack. “Sorry, titch,” he says quietly when the realisation about what he had said hit him.

 

“Are you alright, though?” she tries again, sidestepping the awkwardness that had appeared between them.

 

Dan contemplates the question and looks into the blue eyes of his sister. He huffs a small laugh and tries a smile that doesn’t quite meet his own eyes.

 

“I’ll be fine Ella,” he says and cups the back of her head and kisses her softly on the forehead, before walking away quickly to the entrance of the hotel to have some privacy.

 

\---

Later that day – now well into the evening – Dan was sitting in his own room playing with lyrics and music for new songs on his laptop. He had been there for a number of hours and had completely missed any form of food for lunch. He hadn’t wanted to leave the room in case he ran into Kyle and he couldn’t wait to see him that night and prayed Tasha had managed to talk the family into attending the entertainment.

 

A thud on the door shook him from his concentration and he looks puzzled at his side of the door to his room. He gets up and walks slowly over to it and pulls it open slowly in case something he wasn’t expecting was on the other side of it.

 

He is immediately jumped on by his long haired friend and pulled into a massive bear hug.

 

“See, told you he would be intrigued,” Coop says from behind him and strolls into the room with Will following, settling themselves on the big bed.

 

“What are you doing back here?” Dan exclaims, laughing still from the shock and surprise. “I thought you had gone back to look after Chris?”

 

“Nah! She’s fine now,” Woody shrugs and punches his shoulder. “Besides she’s here too so…” he adds and trails off as he walks into the room and takes in the black bandage on the singer’s arm. “Well, you well and truly fucked up this time haven’t you?”

 

“What my arm?” Dan asks and when the drummer nods, he just shrugs back. “Whatever man, it just feeds into my forever growing bad boy image.”

 

All four of them look at each other in silence for a few moment and as one promptly burst out laughing so hard that Dan can feel the tears streaming down his face.

 

“OK, fine, give me two minutes and I’ll get ready,” he tells them and they all start to chat amongst themselves as Dan pulls his t-shirt over his head and grabs a long sleeved black t-shirt that will actually fit over his cast. He pushes the sleeves up to his elbows and pulls his glasses back on, having taken them off while he was staring intently at the computer screen.

 

“Dan, your ridiculously destroyed phone is currently ringing,” Coop shouts over to him as Dan is in the bathroom trying to one handedly gel his hair back into some sense of style.

 

“Answer it?” he shouts back at the sound man who shrugs and taps the screen around the spider cracks.

 

“Dan’s phone,” he says and Dan hears a pause as the person on the other end is clearly talking to him. He suddenly realises that the door of the bathroom is being closed and the broad man is standing in front of him with one hell of a glare. His thumb is over where the microphone of the phone is and Dan turns to him with a toothy smile.

 

“What’s up Coop?” he tries to say playfully and Coop continues to glare.

 

“Why is this arsehole downstairs waiting for you?” he says threateningly, and Dan quickly steals the phone off of the man and holds it to his own ear.

 

“Andy?” he says quickly.

 

“Yeah, I’m downstairs waiting for you,” the scot says on the other end.

 

“Cool, awesome we’ll be down soon. Go into where they’re doing it and you should see my sister? Tell them I invited you and they should be fine. See you soon,” he finishes and cuts the man off before he can say anything else.

 

“Coop…”

 

“Nah, Dan c’mon this is ridiculous! You know Kyle remembers everything and you’re just gonna flaunt the ass you fooled around with in front of him?” Coop hisses at the singer, who just folds his arms and rests his hip against the sink waiting for the man to stop talking.

 

“You finished?” he asks finally and raises his eyebrows at his friend who just nods. “Right, well me and Kyle had a long…talk last night. He is having to stay with Laura so he wants me to keep hanging around with Andy. I rang the guy earlier and told him it was a mistake but thought it might be cool to hang out,” he explains and Coop just stares at him with incredulity.

 

“Seriously?” he asks finally and Dan just nods sadly and gives Coop a look which automatically tells him that Dan wasn’t happy about doing it. “Fine. I won’t be nice to him,” he adds as a caveat and Dan just pats him on the hip as he passes.

 

“Wouldn’t expect anything less mate,” he says and pulls the door open to head out to the rest of the band.

 

\---

They get back down to the dining room which has been transformed for the night. A small stage – or more accurately, step – seems to have been erected in one corner with DJ decks and a small screen set up for the people singing. A lonely microphone is standing in the middle of the kit and waiting for its first victim.

 

The rest of the group had already made it downstairs and had set themselves up at a large circular table with plenty of seats around it. There is a pitcher of some sort of cocktail in the middle of the table and Dan immediately looks around for Ella as soon as he sees it. Ella sees the worry and wildness in her brother’s eyes and immediately picks her pint glass of Diet Coke up and offers it up in a toast.

 

“Learned my lesson DC,” she says to him subtly and he gives her a knowing nod before moving over to Woody’s wife to say hi with a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Daniel! How are you?” Chris asks him as he sits down on one side of her and Woody sits down on the other.

 

“Good, how are you feeling?” he asks, and they chat about how things had been going while Woody had been away with them.

 

Andy returns from wherever he had been and smiles when he sees Dan. Dan gives him a smile and a small wave when he sees him and the doctor squeezes past Ella and Tyler before sitting down I the chair next to Dan with a pint in his hand.

 

“Hi,” Dan says softly to him, feeling more and more embarrassed about the whole thing. He quickly shifts his attention as the rest of his friend’s flood over to the table with trays of more drinks, slips of white paper and pens.

 

“RIGHT!” Will shouts to get everyone’s attention as the papers and pens are passed around the people at the table. Since there are newcomers here, I will explain the rules in full!”

 

There is a cheer from the regulars, including Dan, as Will announces this and Ella, Tyler, Andy and Sharon all look very confused.

 

“So, we each choose two names out of the ‘hat’ and you then decide on the songs those people have to sing. It CANNOT be a song that they have sung in concert or released at any time. It has to be something they wouldn’t normally listen to. If that person does not want to sing it, you have to write a dare down on the back of the paper and they then have to do that. Any questions?” Will finishes the speech with a flourish and a bowl appears from somewhere with folded paper in it and is passed around.

 

“Yeah, what happens if you get your own name?” Sharon pipes up quickly, looking at the piece of paper she has just removed.

 

“Put it back in baby and choose another one,” Charlies says into her ear and kisses her neck.

 

“Why does it have to be something they wouldn’t normally listen to?” Andy asks as the bowl gets to him.

 

“Because the goal is to get them out of their comfort zone and get them to do something different. You know, like asking Dan to sing something happy, or something with co-ordinated dancing,” Woody answers him and everyone around the table sniggers.

 

“Huh?” Dan asks, clearly missing the conversation as something else had caught his eye.

 

“It’s alright Dan, we’re just making fun of you,” Chris explains and pats him on the cheek.

 

“Nothing new there then,” Dan mumbles as he continues to watch whatever has caught his eye.

 

Entering the room was his fiancé and his entire family. Dan was surprised to see Lorraine there, but he supposed that she was part of the ‘approved’ Simmons’ family. Laura was hanging all over Kyle and anyone who didn’t know the man so well would think that the bland smile on his face was one of happiness and not the sign of frustration and boredom that Dan knew it to be.

 

He catches Kyle’s eye as the other man scanned the room to see who else was there, and after the initial flash of recognition, he just continued looking around him. At that moment Jools entered with the nurse she had been seeing and headed over to the Simmons table with a smile and was greeted warmly by the matriarch.

 

Dan’s face clearly looked confused and Will looks over to see what he was looking at and also sees Jools there. The two of them share a concerned look considering the way Jools had been ignored by the family recently and they read in each other’s face that they would have to follow up on that soon.

 

Dan turns back to the drink in front of him and downs it quickly before writing the songs and dares down for the two names he had been left in the bowl.

 

\---

The karaoke started another half an hour later. The hotel seemed to have cottoned on to this being a bit of a money maker as the room had filled up with residents as well as locals who wanted their ten minutes of fame.

 

The DJ running it did his obligatory opening number, as if to show the punters how easy it could be. He had a pretty average voice, but was enjoying himself singing his own version of ‘Dignity’ by Deacon Blue. As soon as Dan had heard the opening music he groaned loudly.

 

Andy had looked at him with a confused expression as Dan had taken a long drink of his pint.

 

“I hate this song,” he explains quickly. It was a bit of a lie. He didn’t hate the song itself. He hated that everyone seemed to want to sing it at these nights and he had heard his fair share of awful versions for him to now loathe the song itself.

 

The first punter to be called onto the ‘stage’ to sing seemed to be a woman who was a bit of a local celebrity at these kinds of evenings. She looked to be in her late forties and had clearly dressed up for the occasion in some sort of outfit suitable for the song she was about to sing. She had her long bleached blond hair in ringlets with a stars and stripes bandana over it and she had tight form fitting jeans and cowboy boots on.

 

“So everyone give a big welcome to Tina!” the DJ announces and starts to queue the song up. He clearly knew who she was and just hands her the microphone as the chords to Dolly Parton starts playing through the speakers.

 

The woman affects some southern American twang as she navigates the twists and turns of the well-known song. She hits some of the notes, but she doesn’t seem to realise that the majority of notes are flat and she misses them spectacularly. Once she had finished there was a smattering of applause and more from her friends in the corner of the room than anyone else.

 

“Next up we have…Sharon! And she will be singing ‘No’ by Meghan Trainor,” the DJ announces after a few minutes.

 

“Can I take someone up with me?” Sharon asks Will directly as he seemed to have dubbed himself ‘master of ceremonies’ for the evening.

 

“Errr, yeah?” Will says and looks a bit confused.

 

“Excellent!” the girl shouts and grabs Ella’s hand and pulls her towards the stage as well.

 

The music starts and the two of them start to sing along to the lyrics. Sharon clearly wanted someone with her to do some sort of dance routine with her. Dan slides over to the seat vacated by his sister next to the teenager he still hadn’t gotten round to getting to know properly.

 

Tyler was dressed in his normal grunge looking jeans, but had smartened up a bit for the evening by wearing a short sleeved Hawaiian type shirt and had done what Kyle always did with his sleeves and had rolled them further up his arms. Dan laughs at the obvious effort he was putting into his sister.

 

He sits next to him for a while with his arms crossed and not saying anything, but he was watching the boy closely out of the corner of his eye. `he watches how his eyes widen in arousal as Ella and Sharon seem to grind up against each other on the stage whilst Sharon hits all the right notes in the song.

 

He leans over slowly to the boy and Tyler doesn’t even realise that he Dan is sitting next to him, and after one particularly raunchy move Dan sees him swallow hard. Dan shakes his head and rolls his eyes simultaneously.

 

“So….Tyler…still pretending to be gay huh?” Dan finally says and he notices the jerking movements of the boy as he jumps at the question so close to his ear.

 

“Oh…err…yeah, I’m gay,” he says slowly as if he was trying to remind himself of the fact.

 

“Look, kid. I don’t care if you’re straight, but don’t you dare play my little sister. You like her, tell her and see what she says. She can look after herself, but if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you. OK?” he ends the sentence on a question with a big smile on his face and pats the boy’s chest to get his threat through to him, before standing up and walking to the bar for another drink.

 

The bartender walks over to him and he just points to his pint glass and indicates one more and he waits patiently for the drink to be poured. He shoves the drink onto his room number and walks back to the table slowly, making sure he doesn’t spill anything.

 

“Can we get Dan up here next please?” and there are whoops and wolf whistles from the table that he hasn’t gotten to yet.

 

The singer looks up towards the small stage with wide eyes and does a quick finger wave at the DJ before finishing the journey over to the table and putting his pint down. He takes a deep breath and walks up to the stage to meet the DJ.

 

The guy looks at him and hands him the microphone. He looks at the singer as he takes it, and Dan wraps the extra length around his hand so he won’t trip over it.

 

“Don’t sing directly into it, man alright?” the DJ tries to tell him, obviously thinking he was some sort of amateur only doing what he had seen people on TV do with a microphone.

 

Dan chuckles lightly before nodding emphatically at the man, trying to make him feel like he was running the show.

 

“So everyone, give it up for Dan! He’s going to be singing Two Princes!” and Dan looks over at the table and can see Coop smirking. He narrows his eyes and shakes his head at his friend.

  
_“One, two, princes kneel before you_  
That's what I said, now  
Princes, Princes who adore you  
Just go ahead, now  
One has diamonds in his pockets  
That's some bread, now  
This one, said he wants to buy you rockets  
Ain't in his head, now

_This one, got a princely racket_  
That's what I said, now  
Got some big seal upon his jacket  
Ain't in his head, now  
You marry him, your father will condone you  
How 'bout that, now  
You marry me, your father will disown you  
He'll eat his hat, now

_Marry him or marry me_  
I'm the one that loves you baby can't you see?  
I ain't got no future or a family tree  
But I know what a prince and lover ought to be  
I know what a prince and lover ought to be

_Said, if you want to call me baby_  
Just go ahead, now  
And if you like to tell me maybe  
Just go ahead, now  
And if you wanna buy me flowers  
Just go ahead, now  
And if you like to talk for hours  
Just go ahead, now”

Dan performs the song and knows exactly what Coop was trying to do. He looks over at Kyle as he sings the words about marriage and he sees the small smirk in his lover’s face as he gets the inside joke.

 

As he finishes to a round of applause, he takes a deep bow and wipes his forehead from the sweat that had gathered there from the heat of the place. He pushes his sleeves back up his arms as he walks back to the table to take another long drink of his pint.

 

“I’ll be back in a minute guys,” he shouts over the noise of Tina going back up for another attempt at a country song – Shania Twain this time – and heads out of the function space.

 

He follows the signs to the toilets and he finds himself down a long oak paneled corridor. The panels are backlit, and give the hall a nice soft finish and the deep red carpet make it seem cozy as he walks.

 

He is about to push open the large heavy door with the universal men’s room sign on it when he is grabbed around the elbow and pulled backwards.

 

“Hey!” Dan cries loudly and he feels another hand go around his face, but this one has something rough on it and feels much heavier.

 

He is dragged into a large empty room filled with coats and jackets and Dan assumes this is the cloakroom for the punters in the bar. The room is much colder than the corridor outside, very little lighting is on and the whole place is grey with the floor being only covered in concrete.

 

His elbow and face is released and he stumbles forward further into the room and turns around quickly to see Kyle is looking outside of the door to make sure no one is following. He doesn’t shut the door and Dan notices that it is one of those special ones that automatically lock, and he doesn’t want to know exactly how Kyle has managed to get them in there in the first place.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Dan asks him simply and Kyle turns around with his trademark smirk on his face and saunters towards him slowly.

 

Dan walks backwards towards a fold away table and jumps up onto it to sit down and opens his legs wider so that Kyle can stand between the as he gets closer. He wraps his feet around the back of the other man’s legs and pulls him closer.

 

“Do you know how stupid this is?”

 

“Do you know how sexy and hot this is?” Kyle counters and gives him a knowing look before claiming Dan’s mouth, hot and heavy and immediately licking the seam of his lips and looking for entry.

 

As soon as Kyle’s tongue licks at the roof of Dan’s mouth, they both moan in unison and the kiss turns fast, wet and sloppy as they can’t get enough of each other’s taste and feel. Kyle’s good hand wraps into Dan’s longer strands of hair and he pulls the older man’s head backwards so he can properly explore his mouth, and Dan whimpers at the contact and feels the curve of Kyle’s lips as he smiles at the sound.

 

After a few minutes of furious passion, they break away from each other and Dan takes in the sight of Kyle’s lips swollen and red from the excitement they had just shared.

 

“We should get back before Adam starts looking for you again,” Dan regretfully tells him and Kyle just nods in agreement at the decision.

 

Kyle leaves the room first after one last soft kiss to the man’s lips and promises he will sneak out from Laura’s room later to see him. Dan smiles widely at the thought as he watches his fiancé’s back disappear from the room. He leaves it another minute before he slips out himself and actually goes to the bathroom where he was heading originally.

 

He walks back into the karaoke area finally and can hear the final notes of Woody’s rendition of Gotta Tell You – something that Dan had chosen especially for him – ringing in everyone’s ears. He smirks to himself and settles back into the seat.

 

The DJ announces a break and the pre-recorded music starts to play again and they all start chatting amongst themselves. The group suddenly quietens down and all look up when they notice someone standing behind Dan.

 

He looks at each of his friends with a puzzled look on his face, and when he sees where they are looking he looks over his shoulder slowly. Behind him is the wide smiling face of his ex-manager and standing next to him is Laura in floods of tears. Dan has no idea which one to address first, so he looks to Laura as the crying female is possibly more distressing for him.

 

“Laura, can I help you with something?”

 

“I think we need to talk,” she says in between sobs and Dan looks around at his friends.

 

“I’ll come with,” Charlie says, correctly translating Dan’s scared look for one of needing support to be with this girl.

 

They both stand at the same time and follow Laura out of the room. In the lobby area Mr Simmons is also standing there waiting for them and Dan feels more and more concerned at what might happen next. It doesn’t escape his notice that Dave has also sidled out with them and is currently relaxing in one of the large sofas, smiling broadly and apparently enjoying the sight before him.

 

“So what’s going on here?” Charlie asks politely, realising that with Kyle’s dad there it may be a bit of a sensitive situation.

 

“You – don’t talk to me!” Mr Simmons says suddenly and jabs him with a finger before turning on Dan. Dan and Charlie give each other a confused look at the anger in the man in front of them and especially towards Charlie.

 

“And you!” the man shouts at Dan who looks at him to gauge how bad the anger actually is. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my son?” he hisses at him and Dan just cocks an eyebrow at the man. “She saw you cornering him and forcing yourself on him!” he adds when he sees the questioning look in Dan’s eyes.

 

“What the fuck?” Dan exclaims loudly and shoots an accusing glare at the girl. “Have you asked Kyle what happened?” he shouts and he gets nothing but the patriarch and the crazy fan walking away from him.

 

“Screw this mate,” Dan hears a familiar voice behind them and turns to see Coop storming back into the large room and directly towards the Simmons’.

 

“Coop!” Dan shouts a warning to the man and runs after him with Charlie trailing behind.

 

“No way!” the sound engineer stops and looks directly at everyone on the table. “I’m not letting you tar him with any of this shit,” he starts and Dan looks over at Kyle and can see slight frustration growing on his face. “Kyle, for fucks sake dude, just tell them that your fucking memories are back yeah? This little slut here is trying to say Dan forced himself on you!”

 

Silence follows the revelation and everyone is now looking at Kyle who is studiously staring between both Coop and Dan with a mixture of emotions in his eyes.

 

“Oh, probably not the best time to mention this Daniel,” comes Dave’s voice from behind him, a gleeful edge to it. “But we’re releasing Pompeii at the end of the week. Thanks for changing your mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I said a bit of a monster! Let me know what you think.
> 
> Links:  
> No - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMTAUr3Nm6I
> 
> Two Princes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsdy_rct6uo
> 
> Gotta Tell You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQMV1iQ-Xsc


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry it's taken a while for this one. Been an extremely hectic week and its only Tuesday!
> 
> As always, let me know what you think x

Chapter Twenty Three

“ _What_?”

 

Four voices echo each other and Dan narrows his eyes and turns to the overweight man standing behind him. Coop, Charlie and Kyle all look gobsmacked at each other and then towards Dave as well. Kyle leans forward in his chair and leans against the table, trying to easily hear what is being said.

 

“Actually, no! I don’t have time for this right now. You will hear from me in the morning,” he announces and points at Dave threateningly and decidedly turns his back on the fat man, signposting that the discussion was over.

 

He hears a small chuckle from behind him and then feels as the man moves closer towards him and into his personal space. He can feel him leaning forward to whisper into his ear, the sour smell of his breath permeating into his nose like something insidious trying to take over his soul.

 

“Can’t do anything about it now Dan the Man,” and he feels like someone has walked over his grave as he says it.

 

The man walks away from the table and Dan can feel Kyle’s eyes on him, trying to ascertain whether he was alright. He looks deeply into the soulful brown eyes and he can feel his resolve starting to break. His fiancé must see something within them because he is the one to finally shatter the silence.

 

“Oh for fucks sake. Yes! Fine! I can remember _almost_ everything!” he shouts to the table at large and his parents gasp as they turn to look at him. “Can we at least go somewhere a bit quieter to talk about it?” he hisses, music from the speaker behind his head slowly hammering into his skull.

 

Everyone glances at Laura as she starts crying, sobbing loudly and gasping for breath.

 

“Our…room…is…probably…best,” she says, a single tear now running down her cheek from the corner of her eye and attempting to talk between the over-exaggerated sobs. Dan glares at her and raises one eyebrow in disbelief, slowly shaking his head at her. He can see a sparkle in her eye as she looks directly at him.

 

“Yes, dear, I think that is a good idea and then at least you’ll be somewhere where _you_ can be comfortable,” Kyle’s mum croons to the girl kindly, and puts her arm around her shoulders to comfort her. Tasha looks at her mother with complete disbelief at this turn of events and looks disgusted with her family.

 

“You know she’s not actually with Kyle, right?” She says to the woman with a grim look and a subtle menacing look at the fan.

 

“Well Kyle says he only remembers _almost_ everything, and we don’t actually know what’s happening,” the elder woman snaps at her eldest child. “Let’s go and get this sorted shall we?” and she starts to walk towards the doorway of the room with the crying chestnut haired girl under her arm.

 

Dan looks at his friends and Charlie and Coop both make to go and follow them, feeling the need to be with both Dan and Kyle to support them in this madness. However, before they can even take one step forward, Mr Simmons spins suddenly when he realises what is happening. He places a firm hand on Charlie’s chest, stopping him in his tracks.

 

“Nope. No, no way are you anything to do with this family. You don’t come anywhere near us,” he reiterates and turns to follow his wife out of the room. The men stand in silence, the pop music from the speakers the only noise flooding their ears.

 

“Seriously, what have I done to piss off your dad?” Charlie exclaims to Kyle, incredulous at the way he was being treated – especially as this was the first time he had really met him.

 

“Have you not realised exactly how fucked up my family actually is, dude?” he retorts and walks over to the, wrapping his arm around Dan’s waist. Even though the drama was still going on around him, Dan feels suddenly much lighter as he relaxes into the embrace.

 

“Don’t worry Charlie. Go with Coop, relax a bit and me and Kyle will figure this out,” Dan tries to comfort the youngest man and gives him a quick squeeze on his neck to let him know everything will be fine.

 

“You sure?” Charlie asks, and the singer nods furiously. Charlie has clearly had a bit too much to drink because he accepts what he says and gives him a quick peck on the cheek before dragging Coop back to their own table.

 

“Sorry, dude,” Coop says to Kyle as he passes. “I wouldn’t let them paint him like that,” he adds and Kyle just winks at him and shakes his head to show he forgives him.

 

As they watch the sound man follow Charlie, Dan looks at Kyle and smiles softly at him. Kyle winks at him – a more intense and sensual experience than the wink he had just given to his other friend – and kisses him softly on the lips, ignoring everyone around them.

 

“I have seriously missed doing that,” he says against the other man’s lips and he can feel Dan smiling back at him.

 

“Not as much as I have,” he replies shyly and ducks his head against him.

 

“Let’s get this shit over with, then,” Kyle says and starts to pull him out of the room by the hand. Dan laughs despite the entire situation and what might happen next and quickly looks back over his shoulder at the people that have been left behind at the table. He notices Jools giving him a death glare as he goes, and she quickly turns back to Matthew with a serious roll of her eyes to carry on the conversation as if nothing had been going out around them.

 

Dan files that away for later and continues to follow his fiancé through the crowd to the get to the family ‘meeting’. He can hear that the karaoke has restarted and he watched as Andy starts screaming out the words to Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better”, and changing the words from ‘girl’ to ‘guy’ and staring intently at Dan’s retreating figure whilst singing;

 

_“Oh, I know that I can treat you better than he can,_

_And any guy like you deserves a gentleman…”_

“Oh god,” he mutters to himself and Kyle looks over at him when he hears. “See what you’ve caused now?” and he subtly points towards the man on the stage.

 

Kyle smirks and cocks his eyebrows before kissing him deeply, keeping his eyes open and staring directly into the eyes of the doctor on the stage. He licks lightly into his partner’s mouth, clearly marking him for the other man to see, and Dan groans as Kyle pulls his velvety tongue away.

 

Dan frowns at him and slaps him lightly on the shoulder, before finally pulling him out of the room.

 

\---

They get to the fourth floor and Kyle immediately slows down as they get closer to the room he was sharing with the deranged fan. Dan pulls him toward his own body and wraps his arms around his middle, hugging him from behind as they continue walking forward. They stop at the door and they both stare at it before Kyle pulls his wallet from his pocket and rifles through it to find his key card.

 

He takes another deep breath as he swipes it against the card reader and pushes the door open and strides forward, looking more confident in himself than Dan knew he was feeling.

 

“Right, well we’re all here now, let’s talk about all this,” Kyle announces as he walks through the door. The rest of the room stills as they watch him and Dan takes in the scene in front of them.

 

Lorraine was sitting on the large white leather sofa in the window area with Laura curled up next to her, shoulders shaking as if she was crying but no noises or sniffling coming from the girl. Lorraine’s snooty face was glaring at the couple in disgust and stroking the fan’s upper arms. Adam is perched on the arm of the sofa, legs straddling either side with arms crossed in front of him.

 

Tasha looks like she was in mid flow of some sort of monologue and the parents as sitting on two strangely impersonal stiff wooden chairs that were in the room – looking as out of place as Kyles mum and dad did.

 

“Kyle, come on, tell them already that you have no idea who this girl is and she needs to get away from you!” Tasha says, picking up her speech from where she had stopped after her youngest brother waltzed through the door.

 

“Natasha, for goodness sake. Kyle doesn’t remember everything, and who knows what he was doing behind _his_ back when he wasn’t around,” Mrs Simmons deflects easily as if she had tried to tell herself this so much that she truly believed it was accurate.

 

“Kyle, _god,_ please!” Tasha whines, clearly frustrated with trying to talk sense into someone not willing to listen.

 

Kyle looks at his mother and pats Dan’s hand signalling him to let go of where he had decided to hold on and he starts to move over to his mum. A knock at the door distracts him before he can say anything else.

 

“Christ! What else can happen today?” Kyle mutters as he walks over to the door to open it.

 

“Kyle, where’s Dan,” Ella demands and charges through the door eyes searching wildly around the room for her brother. She is so intent on her mission that she actually misses him several times and starts calling out for him. Dan steps forward and puts his hand up looking slightly bemused.

 

“I’m Dan,” he says and Ella walks over to him and stands shoulder to shoulder to him with her arms crossed and glares at each and every person in the room.

 

“I don’t think you’re old enough to be here do you?” Mrs Simmons pipes up and looks disapprovingly at the girl.

 

“I know you! You’re the girl that Dan was kissing this morning! Oh my god, the rumours are true!” Laura exclaims, looking up from the sofa and almost giddy with excitement, all tears and sobbing stopped.

 

“Oh hell no! That’s just gross man!” Ella shouts and looks incredulously at the girl on the sofa. “Mate he’s my brother, god!” she huffs and looks directly at the other girl for the first time. “Hang on, don’t I follow you on twitter?” she asks and moves closer to Laura to get a better look at her.

 

“Titch, really what do you want?” Dan interrupts as Ella looks like she is going off on another tangent completely.

 

“I’m here to support you! There’s no way I’m letting you deal with this shit without backup!” she announces as she turns back to her brother with intent. Mrs Simmons tuts at her swearing and both of the Smiths’ look at her questioningly.

 

“Well it’s not ladylike all this swearing is it?” she says, a but a surprised at the way they had responded.

 

“Have you listened to the filth that comes out of your son’s mouth?” Dan asks her and huffs a laugh, and then turning to Ella; “Mate I’ll be fine, I’ve got Kyle honestly.”

 

“Pfft,” Ella says and looks at the man in question. “Dude, I saw the way he let him talk to Charlie.”

 

“Ella,” Dan says with a warning tone and gives her his big brother ‘look’. “If you’re going to stay watch what you say yeah?” Ella grunts, but does stop talking.

 

“Right, well let’s all just calm down a minute here yeah?” Kyle announces and when no one says anything he walks over to his mum and kneels in front of him and rests his injured arm on his leg.

 

“Mum, I have not been cheating on Dan.” he says slowly as if he is explaining to a child. “We are engaged and we are going to get married. This girl is a fan – I think – and I have not so much as said two words to her before now.”

 

“But you said you couldn’t remember everything,” his mum starts and Kyle stops her with a hand to her wrist.

 

“I can’t remember like the day before or the day of the accident, that’s it,” he tells her.

 

“So you are going to marry this boy then?” His dad asks and his mother just looks at Dan with narrowed eyes and a sceptical look.

 

“That’s the plan dad, yeah,” Kyle answers and smiles back at Dan.

 

“Over my fucking dead body.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, another chapter for you! Will probably be a little less angsty for a while to give everyone a bit of a break so have fun!
> 
> As always let me know what you think x

Chapter Twenty Four

Sunlight streams through the window - where the curtains hadn't been drawn before they had fallen asleep - and hits Kyle directly in the face. He cracks an eye, trying to hide from the low glare of autumn sun.

 

Groaning he throws an arm over his eyes to hide from the brightness and remembers all the shit that had gone down the previous night. Taking a deep breath, he pulls his arm away and turns his head to the side and looks at the man next to him in bed.

 

He smiles softly at the sight of a sleeping Dan, hair a complete frizzy mess, mouth slightly open and features clear. He doesn't understand why his parents hate this man so much. He's kind, crazy, funny and so perfect for Kyle, and it tears him apart inside that his family don't want this for him.

 

After his mother had tried to insist that the synth player really started up a relationship with Laura, Kyle had stormed out of the hotel room and away from his tormentors. He had managed to keep calm after his father had 'forbidden' him to marry his lover, but the way both the girl and the woman were looking at him, he felt like he was going to be forced into copulating with her against his will - and with an audience if his mother had my say in the matter.

 

He snuggles up to Dan and throws his arm over his middle to squeeze him tightly. He gloried in the familiar warmth of his body and nestled his head into the lean chest of the other man. He really had missed him - even when he couldn't remember him.

 

He hears a notification on his phone and reaches behind him to check it. It was Tasha, telling him they had all checked out and were going home. Kyle sighs again. He had tried to talk to them and find out exactly what was going on, but all he had come up with was that his family were all homophobic arses, and wasn't that a fun thought to be faced with.

 

He replies to his sister and manages to subtly ask her to keep to the original plan with the microphones, and returns to marveling at the simple beauty of his partner before starting the day.

 

\---

"So Mr. Simmons, you're telling me you have your memories back now," the consultant asks him, almost disbelieving at how quickly that had happened.

 

Dan slyly looks at Kyle out of the corner of his eye as the other man grabs his hand and starts thumbing circles over his palm. Kyle had never liked doctors, and this whole experience had made him feel a lot more anxious when he was around them, especially after his parents had lied to him about his entire life.

 

He watches him purse his lips together and nod slowly at the older man, before looking down at his untied trainers peeking out from under his jeans.

 

He had successfully completed all of the crazy tests he had been asked to do and he had remembered accurate dates and events from the past ten years when he was asked. This was the end of the assessment and hopefully he would be discharged and sent home, and they could all get out of this godforsaken city.

 

"Well, all I have left to ask then is who will be looking after you when you get home? I'm surprised that your parents aren't here. You seemed quite close when I spoke to them."

 

"Seriously doc, not close at all. Me and Dan live together so he'll keep an eye out for me," Kyle explains quickly and squeezes the man’s hand tightly. The doctor looks at the singer closely, seemingly assessing him for something and hums a small noise.

 

"Alright, well Dan can you maybe give me and Kyle a minute? There's just some things I need to go over with him privately," and Dan's eyebrows shoot up in understanding, and nods to him as he pulls his hand away from Kyle.

 

"OK," he says lightly and gives Kyle his small shy smile before heading out of the office.

 

There's a beat of silence while the medical man deals with some papers in front of him, and Kyle looks up when nothing is said.

 

"Kyle, I just want to know that everything is alright with you right now," the man says seriously and Kyle can't help but smile as he feels confused by what he is actually being asked. "Your mother and brother expressed concerns to me about your unhealthy relationship with Dan, and it was raised again when I met your girlfriend..."

 

"Whoa, whoa, hang on there mate. Girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend," Kyle interrupts forcefully and stops the doctor from saying anything else. "She was a crazy fan! Never met her before I don't think! And really not in a relationship with her! I'm bisexual and my parents aren't happy that I've chosen Dan to spend my life with! No unhealthy relationship here...unless you count his with chicken..." he tries an attempt at humour, but it doesn't land with the neurologist. The doctor stares at him intently for a moment, trying to decide whether he should believe him.

 

Sighing loudly, and looking back to the papers in front of him, he reads over something again before looking back at his patient.

 

"Well I suppose that's everything then. I will send a referral to a specialist at UCLH and you should hear from them for a follow up," the man says finally and turns away from Kyle, clearly ending the consultation.

 

He walks dazed out of the office and sees Dan sitting on one of the red plastic chairs. He takes in the nerd in front of him, with his hat sitting 'just so' at an angle on his head, old jeans that were slightly too short for him, bright orange socks and a black and white knitted jumper that looked like it came out of the 80's with the sleeves rolled up.

 

He knows Dan owns clothes that make him look irresistible to his fans and strangers alike, but he always chuckles to himself when he sees him dressed in the things he feels most comfortable in. Dan stares at him through his glasses with a quirk of the lips when he notices Kyle staring at him.

 

"What?" Dan finally asks him, knowing fine well by the look on Kyle's face that he is going to start slagging him off for something.

 

"Nothin', was just wondering when I fell in love with a grandpa." Kyle says and his face turns to one of feigned shock to go with Dan's matching one.

 

"Girls love me like this," Dan replies, now faking cockiness. "I've got the tweeted to prove it," he adds and Kyle snorts.

 

"Whatever babes. Can we go home now?"

 

"Yes! Thank fuck for that!"

 

\---

Four hours later and they are standing on the platform at Manchester Piccadilly waiting for the 19:42 train to the capital.

 

There were five of them on the platform and Dan had managed to get them all first class seats on the train. Will, Woody and Chris had all decided to stay up north to look around while everything settled down, and Charlie had managed to book a few more gigs and he had disappeared off with Sharon.

 

So that left Coop, Ella and Tyler to travel back down together in the cramped Virgin train.

 

Dan had managed to get his and Kyle's phone screens replaced in the time they had to spare between the hospital and getting the train so Kyle was currently glued to it, trying to catch up with everything he had missed.

 

"You post shit do you know that?" He says to Dan, not even looking up from the handset.

 

"Thanks babe," Dan replies, looking up at the screen to see how long it was til the train arrived. It was due in the next couple of minutes so he gathered his stuff together and started to stand up from the metal seat.

 

Coop was on Kyle's other side staring over his shoulder at the display too in his normal nosey self, and Tyler was watching Ella diligently as she stands up and pulls her top down where it had ridden up.

 

The teenager clearly feels someone watching him and he glances over to see Dan, who just smirks and raises an eyebrow at him. Right at that moment the train pulls in to the platform and they all rush to get to the right carriage.

 

\---

It's about half an hour into the journey before anything really happens. There is only the five of them in the carriage with an elderly couple in their seventies at one end and even though they have their assigned seats they are free to move around. Kyle, Dan and Coop all sit at a table for four and the other two sit together at a table for two. The singer and his fiancé are sitting opposite each other and Kyle has his feet up on Dan's lap, with the man stroking his shins absentmindedly as he concentrates on his laptop.

 

Finally bored of his social media stalking, Kyle looks up and watches the frown lines on Dan's forehead as he tries to figure something out.

 

"You hot spotting?" He asks and gives Dan a nudge with his foot.

 

"Hmm? Oh yeah, working on Luc's thing again," he says, not looking up.

 

"Dan?" Comes a voice from the end of the table and all three men look up at the boy standing there. "Would it be OK if I stay and watched? Just for experience?" And this is possibly the most that Tyler has ever spoken in the time Dan has known him so he just moves his bag onto the floor and lets the boy settle down next to him.

 

Kyle refuses to move his legs as he settles his head back in the chair, and so Dan is stuck bracketed between them as Tyler sits down. The boy watches Dan settle a hand on the limb and he sees a strange look fall over Tyler's face.

 

"Oh!" He says suddenly and his eyes go wide before a deep red blush creeps over his face. At the exclamation, Kyle's interest in the boy is sparked. Having only been back with the group for a day he had pretty much ignored him, but now he seemed interesting.

 

"What 'oh'?" He pipes up, and looks at the boy with a spark on his face.

 

"Oh, I didn't realise you two were actually together," Tyler explains and even Dan seemed interest in that claim.

 

"What do you mean? Why did Ella tell you she was coming?" Dan asks, clearly confused.

 

"I dunno," the teen says, embarrassed. "I thought it was cos he was your friend. I thought those rumours about you and those girls were true," he adds looking at Kyle quickly.

 

Kyle just looks at him disdainfully and shakes his head with a huff. Dan sees how pissed off he is by the statement and slides his hand up the leg of his jeans and rubs soothing circles around his ankles.

 

"Mate is that why you're pretending that you're gay?" He hisses to the boy who promptly goes redder than a beetroot. "Oh for fucks sake," he curses. "Titch! Tyler here's not gay! He's been pretending! He fancies you, and wants to ask you out, what do you say?" Dan shouts over the carriage, thankfully not waking the snoozing grandparents at the end of the carriage.

 

"Yeah, alright?" Ella replies, clearly confused at the turn of events. "When?"

 

"He'll text you when he gets home," her brother continues and looks at the boy as he says it to confirm what he had said, and Tyler just nods at him.

 

"Coolio. Dan?" She asks.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I don't have to have you there too to talk for him do I?" Ella asks cheekily and Dan flips two fingers up at her in response.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

"I need the loo," Kyle announces and Dan let's his legs go so he can sit up straight and start to move. "Coop move." He says to his friend who finally gets up, sarcastically huffing like it's the hardest thing he's ever been asked to do.

 

He walks to the end of the carriage and past the sleeping elderly people and smiles softly at them - and if he watches their chests to make sure they're still breathing; well no one else could see that.

 

Pushing the button to open the door he pulls his phone out to record the inside of the closet type bathroom. He doesn't speak, but turns off the camera and finishes his business before heading back out of the cabin.

 

The train had come to a stop at a rather provincial station as he exited, and when he walked back towards the group, he noticed that Dan was kindly helping the elderly couple with their bags as they were obviously disembarking. The woman was chatting away to him as he reached up to get the final bags and Kyle couldn't help but stare longingly as the stretch rode his lover's t-shirt up and exposed a stretch of pale white skin.

 

"So you're a singer then?" Kyle heard her ask him and saw Dan smile his shy smile and nod his head to the question. “Oh well then, you and my grand-daughter would get along very well! She sings in the local church choir! Oh, but I see you have a ring, why are all the nice boys taken?” the woman rambles on as Dan continues to help her with his one good hand as they head out of the carriage and off of the train.

 

Kyle is sitting down as Dan wonders back into first class and him and Coop are smiling widely at him as Tyler moves out of the way so he can sit back in his seat.

 

“Oh, young man! You’re such a help! Thank you so much!” Coop gushes in a high pitched, female type voice.

 

“Stop it mate!” Kyle starts at his friend, looking over at Dan and seeing he looks embarrassed. “It’s not his fault! He’s genetically engineered to help women in distress!” and he sticks his tongue out at Dan in jest.

 

“Seriously, you ever want to have sex again, you better shut up,” he says matter of factly to his man and Kyle immediately stops smiling, shuts his mouth and makes a locking action with his hands.

 

“You are so whipped!” Coop crows to Kyle and bursts out laughing until Kyle kicks him heavily to the shin.

 

“Can I get back to work now?” Dan asks his friends and both of them and they both give him guilty, apologetic looks and nod quietly. “Thank you!” he says emphatically and ignores them when he sees them glance at each other and smirk.

 

“So basically, what I’m doing is trying to see what arrangements of this music would sound good with these lyrics and this track…” Dan starts explaining to the kid next to him and at that point Kyle starts zoning out and ignoring everything that was being said. This was Dan’s bit – and Kyle always felt intimidated when he was even around the man when he wasn’t actually involved in recording anything.

 

He posts his toilet video onto Twitter to add to his pretty heady collection of them, and starts flicking through his own music list on Spotify to see if anything was jumping out to him. The door at the end of the carriage slides open with a whoosh and suddenly loud cheering and shouting accompanies the arrival of about five large, muscled and clearly not sober men.

 

“YES! I can’t believe we managed to get into this place!” one of the men screams loudly at the rest. He seemed shorter than Kyle, but at least three times wider, bald shaved head and bright red, round face.

 

“I know! This is cool! And more free drink as well!” His friend announces who looks almost identical, but with more of his arse hanging out of his ill-fitting trousers.

 

“Oh crap,” Kyle mutters and looks at Coop who looks back at him with the same frustrated look on his face. He looks over at Dan who is still trying to talk to Tyler, work on the computer and watch the skin heads at the same time.

 

The invading group continue to talk shit to each other about the excitement of visiting London and how they are going to “sex up all the whores” they come across and when the four men at the table see them leering at Ella, Kyle pipes up quickly.

 

“Hey mates, sorry to be a pain, but can you keep it down a bit? We’re trying to work over here?” he tries politely and the men look over at Kyle, clearly finding what they see hilarious for whatever reason as they start laughing again.

 

“You are being a pain, _mate_ ,” one of them says to him. “This is our holiday and we’ll be as loud as we fucking like! No one else cares do they?” he says and looks over at Ella who has her headphones in, is curled up on the seat and trying to make herself appear invisible.

 

“Yeah, why would we listen to a poof like you anyway? I can see your nails are done, hair done nice. You’re probably secretly banging that guy opposite you aren’t you?” A second man says and glares at Dan as he tries to insult Kyle.

 

“No secret about it mate,” Kyle scoffs at him, and gives him the best disdainful look he can muster. That seemed to upset the man as he starts to charge forward toward him and Kyle jumps up quickly at the same time as Coop.

 

Coop inserts himself between the two of them and manages to get a forceful hand on the stranger’s chest to stop him. The height of Kyle also went some way to stop the man too, as he wasn’t expecting someone as thin as him to be that tall.

 

“Look, I really don’t think this is something you want to get into mate, do you?” Coop says calmly and in a low and threatening voice.

 

“Is everything alright in here gentleman?” a polite voice says from behind them and Kyle looks round to see the conductor standing there. He had obviously noticed something on the CCTV that was hanging around the cabin and he had appeared at just the right moment.

 

“No problems,” Kyle says brightly. “We were just asking these guys here to calm down a bit so we could work.”

 

“Ah,” the ticket collector says calmly and looks around Coop at the men that are now looking shifty behind him. “Oh hi guys, I thought we had had a discussion at the last station and you had decided to get a train in the morning?” the conductor finally asks and the group of drunkards all look at their feet. “Maybe it is time to get the police involved, yeah?” he adds and pulls a radio out of his pocket and says something unintelligible into it.

 

“Thanks guys,” the man says to Kyle and Coop as he escorts the large men out of the carriage. “Hope you get to work a bit easier now,” he adds as he walks away.

 

Silences falls around them again and Ella pulls her headphones out of her ears and puts her book down.

 

“You want to get yourself killed?” she rounds on Kyle, who just looks at her confused. “I don’t want my fucking brother in law to be seriously injured for the second time in two weeks!”

 

Kyle looks over at Dan to see if he was hearing the paranoia coming from his sister, but all Dan does is frown and shrug to agree with her.

 

“Oh, come on! They were so drunk even I could have taken them!” he says to them.

 

Dan snorts as he starts showing Tyler the intricacies of GarageBand. Ella looks at him in shock and Coop just pulls him into his side to comfort him.

 

“Aw, Kyle. I hate to say this man, but Dan throws a better punch than you do,” he says apologetically and then rubs his head like he’s a child.

 

“I hate you all. I quit the band.” Kyle says sulkily.

 

“Kyle you can’t live without us,” Dan says without even looking up and even Kyle can’t dispute that.

 

\---

It was close to one in the morning by the time four of the five tired group walked up the stairs to Kyle and Dan’s front door. Coop had disappeared off home himself and he had left Dan, Kyle, Ella and Tyler to disappear to their own place themselves.

 

Ella and Tyler had agreed to stay with them until they were able to make their way back to the ‘country’ – as Dan had started calling it, not wanting to think about his parents sitting there and avoiding him.

 

“I am so happy to be home!” Kyle exclaims as he pulls his keys out of his bag to open the door.

 

As they enter the flat, there is a large pile of post neatly put on the side and Kyle can see that his brother-in-law has tidies up a bit after the two fur-balls clearly hiding from them, or not interested enough to make an appearance.

 

Kyle immediately throws his bags down and goes in search for his babies, and Tyler and Ella stand dumbstruck as they are ignored completely by the man.

 

“One track mind, don’t worry about it,” he tells them and he starts turning on lights and lamps to let them see where they have to go. “Here’s the couch. Titch, I’ll get you some bedding and stuff and you can get set up, yeah?” he asks his sister and she nods tiredly.

 

“They’re ignoring me,” comes a sullen voice from behind them as Kyle comes through the doorway with an armful of bedding for the guests. “Hi, Bert. You wouldn’t ignore me would you?” Kyle says grumpily to the cheese plant in the corner of the room.

 

Tyler continues to look equally confused and surprised at the turn of events and the scene playing out in front of him. Dan walks over to him and elbows him in the side.

 

“He’s actually crazy, don’t worry about it,” he tries to explain. “Really nice, great musician but actually insane,” Dan laughs quickly when he sees Kyle’s face and goes over to hug his man tightly, and kisses him lightly on the lips.

 

“I just hit the things you tell me, I’m not a musician,” Kyle says softly, looking directly into Dan’s eyes. There’s silence for a moment as the men stare intently at each other, lost in each other’s touch and gaze. Not being able to be soft with each other for so long has meant that arriving home has meant a lot to both of them.

 

A small cough and throat clearing knocks them out of their bubble and they’re eyes break away from each other and Dan looks at his sister.

 

“Sorry guys,” he says quickly and he grabs Kyle’s hand and pulls him towards the bedroom. “We’ll see you in the morning alright?” he calls over his shoulder and thinks he can hear a small giggle coming from the living room.

 

Dan pulls Kyle into the bedroom and doesn’t even wait for the door to click shut before he’s attacking his mouth and trying to get him out of his clothes. Kyle quickly grabs him by the shoulders and pulls back, causing Dan to whine at the loss of contact.

 

“Babe, please,” Kyle pleads, as his man tries to get closer to him again. “Dan!” he exclaims and smiles as he is attacked again. He rests their foreheads together and looks at him again. “I’m not doing this with your baby sister this close!” he tells him with finality.

 

Dan frowns and Kyle fights the urge to press his fingers agains the lines between his eyes to smooth them out.

 

“Fine,” he says after a moment, clearly deciding Kyle had a point. “But as soon as we’re alone…” he says, but doesn’t have to finish the sentence, the lust in his eyes and seductive biting of his lower lip doing all the talking for him.

 

“You are actually going to kill me one of these days aren’t you?” Kyle says and blows out a long breath before breaking contact and heading to his closet to get clean clothes to wear.

 

\---

Morning comes too early for everyone involved, but Kyle gets up before Dan, as usual, and pads out in just soft navy pyjama trousers to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee – presumably black as he hadn’t had time to get milk.

 

He pulls one of the doors of his fridge open to see how bad the food was looking and was greeted to a fully stocked fridge, with a new carton of milk.

 

“Natasha, I love you!” he says quietly to himself, trying not to wake up Ella and Tyler.

 

As he waits for the kettle to boil he looks over at the pair. Tyler has taken the floor and let Ella take the couch, but he can’t decide whether it had been like that all night. He chuckles to himself at the memory of the boy thinking pretending to be gay would get him girls and goes to pour two cups of caffeine and walks back into the bedroom.

 

He climbs on the bed and pulls his legs up toward him and his phone starts playing the theme tune to the Addams Family. Realising it’s the ringtone he has programmed for his sister he looks at it and debates internally whether he wants to pick it up. Deciding he should really thank her for the food, he hits the green accept icon and lifts it to his ear.

 

“Hey Tashie, how’s things?” he starts, using a nickname from when he was a kid.

 

_“Kyle, you need to get round here. Those microphones picked something up.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, had enough of all this angst free time!
> 
> Joke, sorry for the cliffhanger, but thought it would be a good place to end.
> 
> Comments, kudos, curses, hate - all is welcome here! xx


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Sorry the chapter is a little shorter tonight. 
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Twenty Six

Kyle hangs up the phone and looks over at the man lying next to him. He sees one of the blue eyes half cracked open and looking up at him and he frowns at him.

 

“You awake or just pretending?” he asks, and watches Dan weigh up his options.

 

Dan squeezes his eyes shut, opens both of them and stretches loudly, before sitting up in the bed. “I’m awake,” he says and smiles widely at Kyle.

 

“What you so happy about?” the younger man asks grumpily, the phone call still playing on his mind.

 

“No reason really. Just happy to be home. With you,” he says leaning in towards Kyle, and punctuates the end of each sentence with a kiss to the side of his neck. He wraps his arms around the naked chest of his man and reaches up to pull his chin down so he can kiss him deeply.

 

Dan can quickly tell the other man is distracted and tries in earnest to get his mind off of what he is thinking about. He licks into his mouth and reminds himself of the feeling and taste of his lover before pulling off and using his teeth to pull at his lower lip.

 

His hands have started to trail down to his hips and start to pull at the waistband of his pyjamas to get access to the growing dick within. Kyle groans against Dan’s lips as the singer squeezes at the head causing it to start leaking quickly.

 

“Wearing too many clothes,” Dan mumbles, and Kyle quickly pulls the offending clothing off of his trousers and launches them across the room, not caring where they land.

 

He watches as Dan does the same, but he can’t help, mainly because he has yet to let go of his aching cock, and continues to stroke it at the same time as shimmying out of his boxers he had slept in.

 

Both now naked, and both thoroughly aroused, Dan returns to Kyle’s lips and uses his casted hand to push him backwards on the bed and straddles his thighs and lines up both of their lengths so he can get them in his one large hand. Kyle moans again at the sensation of his dick stroking against Dan’s, but he suddenly realises they aren’t alone in the flat, and he brings his fist to his mouth and bites down on it to stop him making any noise.

 

Dan smirks at the sight and moves his hand faster and rougher over the length of both of them and then strokes lightly at the combined heads, trying to make his lover lose as much control as he can.

 

Kyle can’t lie still with the sensations going on and soon he is bucking up into the touch and causing Dan to start groaning loudly too. He reaches up to try and shush him with his other hand and Dan just opens up his mouth and sucks Kyle’s fingers in his mouth and starts to suck at them with abandon while synchronising his own hand movements.

 

Both men eventually make low moans deep in their own throats and Dan’s hand is quickly covered in the warmth of their combined release.

 

Trembling with the aftershocks, he falls to the side and slips off of the other man and into his side of the bed – still with a wide smile on his face. Kyle glances over at him as he recovers.

 

“You look far too pleased with yourself,” he comments as he watches Dan clean his hand with his boxers and throw them into the corner where the laundry basket sits.

 

“And you look far too pissed off considering the time of the morning and what we just did,” Dan replies.

 

“Hmm.” Kyle hums, non committedly and looks at the time on his phone again. “Tash rung, and I’m going to go and see her this morning.”

 

“Anything important?”

 

“Don’t know at the moment,” he replies shortly, pulling himself out of the bed and walking towards the dresser to get clothes and a towel so he can shower.

 

“You want me to come?” Dan asks him, slightly worried at the lack of conversation coming from his fiancé.

 

“You already did that,” Kyle replies quickly and wiggles his eyebrows at Dan as he rolls his eyes and gives him a ‘look’. “Nah, babes. It’s alright, I’ll go and find out what’s happening,” the man replies and wraps a towel round his waist to go to the bathroom.

 

\---

Two hours later and Kyle has made it to his sister’s house. He stops at the garden gate, before opening it with a loud creaking noise, sure to alert anyone inside to a visitor’s arrival. He thinks drily to himself that at least they were safe from burglars and then mentally kicks himself at the thought, remembering he was in London, and really that wouldn’t keep anyone away.

 

He chuckles to himself as he realises exactly how insane his brain is, and walks briskly down the short path to the front door and rings the bell.

 

Martin answers the door to hi, and Kyle is surprised to see him because he was expecting the man to be at his boring job in the city.

 

“Hey!” he says and pulls the man into a hug. “Thanks for looking after my place for me,” he adds as they pull away, and he sees his brother in law get flustered at the unexpected contact. He had always been very reserved, and he wasn’t much of a hugger at the best of times.

 

“Oh…uhm…well,” the man stutters and Kyle walks into the house to look for his sister.

 

“It seems unnaturally quiet in here,” he observes. “Kids not here?”

 

“Oh, no, I took them to a friend’s house,” Martin explains, clearly relieved to talk about something more comfortable for him. “Natasha needed some time to process things.”

 

And at that piece of information, Kyle stops and looks at Martin with a pursed lips and knitted eyebrows.

 

“What do you mean?” he asks and Martin just sighs loudly and looks defeated.

 

“I’ll let her tell you everything. Let’s just say your family has more skeletons than the Royals.”

 

Kyle scowls at the comparison, not quite thinking they were that bad, and then shrugs and walks into the kitchen where his sister always sat when she wasn’t entertaining. True enough, his big sister is sitting at the wooden dining room table on a chair with a large mug in front of her. She has her hands wrapped around it and her face looks tear stained and red, as if she had been crying for a number of hours.

 

He moves over to her and stands behind her. Bending down he wraps his arms around her shoulders and hugs her tightly, and at the touch and comfort Tasha starts crying again.

 

“What’s wrong Tashie?” Kyle murmurs in her ear and hugs her tighter, but that only leads to her sobbing harder.

 

“She’s been like this since last night,” Martin explains from the doorway, clearly not sure how to handle his normally strong wife as she breaks down in her brother’s arms. Kyle looks over his shoulder and gives the man a dirty look, before turning all of his attention to the woman in front of him.

 

He pulls the bench seat out from under the table and straddles it, all the while trying to keep some sort of contact with his sister. He touches the side of the mug and feels it is stone cold.

 

“Martin, make us both a cup of tea would you?” he calls over his shoulder and the man looks thrilled to have something else to focus on. He fills the cast iron kettle and places it on the top of the AGA in the corner of the kitchen.

 

There is silence for a few minutes while Martin busies himself with the task he was set. Finally, there are two mugs of tea in front of them, a packet of sweetener and a carton of green milk sitting on the table.

 

Kyle looks up at the man and gets a shrug in return. Shaking his head, he makes the tea string and sweet the way both of them like it and replaces the mug in Tasha’s hands.

 

“So are you going to tell me what happened?” Kyle finally asks her after blowing on his own tea and then taking a small sip.

 

Tasha takes a deep breath and manages to compose herself in order to answer the question. She also takes a sip of the tea and winces when she realises how hot the liquid still is.

 

“Well, I did what Coop said and put the microphones in places where they were likely to pick up conversations and turned them on.” She starts, her voice wavering slightly as she spoke.  “Got home yesterday and wasn’t expecting to hear anything at all, but turned on the receiver before heading to bed to see what was going on and mum and dad were arguing. Like really badly arguing.”

 

She pauses and takes another sip of her tea. She sniffs as her nose starts to run and Kyle points at the kitchen towel and Martin gets the message and pull a couple of pieces off for her.

 

“What were they arguing about?” Kyle prompts, and Tasha looks at him properly and starts talking again.

 

“I didn’t get the beginning of it, but Dad was shouting at mum.”

 

“More like screaming,” Martin cuts in and earns a glare from the woman.

 

“ _Screaming_ then, about how everything was ruined and now he was going to have to live with seeing _him_ all the time.” Kyle looks at her, clearly confused about things and his sister had lost him somewhere in the middle of this story.

 

“What is he upset that he’s going to have to see Dan all the time? What’s Dan done to upset him so much?” Kyle asks, trying to wrap his head around things. Tasha glares at him next and he gets the message to stop talking.

 

“Mum was apologising so much, and saying how it wasn’t meant to be like this, and how was she to know that _he_ would turn up here.”

 

“Sweetheart, I think you should just tell Kyle the main thing and then we can talk about the lead up to it?” Martin finally cuts in as he sees Kyle’s face isn’t getting any clearer about the situation.

 

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Tell me the basics and then we can get details,” Kyle agrees, thankful that his brother in law isn’t as dumb as he seemed most of the time.

 

“Alright,” Tasha says slowly and takes a deep breath in. “Kyle, we’ve got another brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always....blah, blah, comments, blah, blah, Kudos etc...
> 
> xx


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven

Dan had asked Kyle at least four more times whether he needed company when he went to his sister’s and had been told every time that he would be fine. He had watched his fiancé walk out of the front door and as he left he kissed him deeply again to remind him what he had to come home to.

 

He didn’t know why, but he had woken up that morning with a spring in his step and had felt the need to express and show the love he was feeling towards his best friend in every way possible. He knew he had some things to sort out, but for the moment he was feeling happy, and wanted to show everyone.

 

He had shut the door behind Kyle as he had left and had looked around the living room at his sleeping sister and her…friend? Boyfriend? He wasn’t exactly sure. He shrugs inwardly and goes to find one of the cats in the bedroom. He picks up the tamer of the two – or the one who wouldn’t claw his eyes out if he tried to pick him up – and walked back to the living room. He drops the black and white feline on his sister’s head and rushes to the kitchen and waits for the ensuing reaction.

 

“ARGH! Oh my god!” comes the inevitable scream as Ella jumps off of the sofa in surprise.

 

Dan giggles to himself as he listens to the girl rush around and makes himself busy, refilling his coffee as his sister runs into the kitchen.

 

“That bloody cat jumped on my head!” she exclaims loudly to her brother, waving her arms everywhere. “How the hell do you live with that?”

 

“Doesn’t bother me,” he says nonchalantly, which was an outright lie, because the first few times he had stayed with Kyle he had done nothing but complain about the constant presence of the cats. “Come on, get dressed!” he says, upbeat and peppy and this earns him another glare from the teenager.

 

“You’re far too happy this morning,” she observes, echoing what Kyle had also told him already, and he just shrugs at her.

 

“Well, you’re going home this evening and I want to spend time with my sister!”

 

“What are we going to do?” she asks, clearly suspicious of his motives.

 

“Well I’ve got to go into the studio to send a few emails, thought you and Tyler could mess around in there while I worked and then the afternoon is all for you!”

 

“OK!” she says, suddenly brighter and flounces out of the kitchen area to wake up the sleeping boy on the floor.

 

“Quickly titch! Want to get out before lunch time!” he shouts after her.

 

\---

In record time – and Dan doesn’t know if it was because they were actually excited about going to the studio, or about having his wallet for themselves for the afternoon – the three of them were wandering down to the studio.

 

Ella had obviously been to the studio before as a casual thing, but she seemed to be thrumming with excitement about the possibility of doing something else while she was there. Tyler was just in awe and was more quiet than normal. Dan signs them in and they follow him upstairs to the familiar room and unlocks the door.

 

He startles ever so slightly at how nothing had changed in the room since he had last been there, but as usually his entire life seemed to have been turned upside down. Seats were still in the same place from practice of familiar songs and random pieces of percussion were lying in strange places where Kyle and Woody had been playing an extremely strange game of ‘tag’ where the rules made no sense at all. Dan laughs at the memory.

 

“Right, well guys through here is the mixers and stuff,” and he lets them through into the booth for them to look at the equipment. “I don’t know what you fancy doing? I can give you some raw tracks and you can do whatever you want to them?”

 

At the suggestion both of the teenagers just nodded enthusiastically and Dan went through to find the initial tracks that had been laid down of a few of their older songs. He chose a few that weren’t as well known as the rest and loaded them up for them to have their way with.

 

He gives them a very basic run down on how everything worked, loaded up the Mac for them and took a seat in the main room with his mobile and his own MacBook. He puts his laptop on a table for it to boot up and then looks up the number he needed on his phone and hits the dial button.

 

One ring…two rings…three rings…

 

“Hi, this is Jools, I can’t answer your call at the moment. Please leave a message.”

 

“Jools, it’s Dan. I assume you’ll be back at work soon? And not my soon, like this week some time? I know you’re pissed at me but you should be here so I can get some stuff sorted. Ring me back when you get this, please.”

 

He tried not to sound annoyed at the girl, but he wasn’t lying and he did need her back in London to do some work for him. He seriously hated being his own manager, but at this precise moment at least it gave him some control over his music.

 

And speaking of control, he picks up his computer and scrolls through his emails to find the one he knew he hadn’t looked at from Dave. Finding it under a new screed of correspondence from Lucian – seriously he needed to have a talk with that man – he double clicks and reads it with anger rising inside, threatening to destroy his happy mood.

 

_“Dear Daniel,_

_Thank you so much – again – for letting us use the amazing music you yourself have written._

_Attached is a document that you have signed yourself that entitles us to use this in perpetuity and obviously you are entitled to the royalties as the writer and co-producer of said song._

_The girls look forward to performing this at all future performances for the foreseeable future and we know that you will be thrilled with the way in which it is portrayed._

_Obviously, as you see in the document you signed, it is not right that both the girls and yourselves perform the song at the same time, so for the time being you have signed it over to the girls to use until they see fit to hand it back to you._

_This has obviously all be checked by a lawyer and you yourself had your assistant co-sign this._

_Yours Faithfully,_

_David”_

 

The sarcasm was dripping from the screen. It was so heavy that Dan could feel it seeping into his pores and he felt like he needed a second shower.

 

He growls and opens up the PDF attachment and sees that his signature is indeed at the bottom and so is a counter signatory of Jools’ autograph. He tries to keep calm as he thinks studiously through the last week to see if he had indeed signed anything he had not had the chance to read properly.

 

Not recalling anything that both he and Jools had signed at the same time, he remembers the look on Jools’ face when Dave had confronted him at the karaoke evening and he starts to put two and two together.

 

“Shit. Fucking, shitting, fucking –“ and he makes a frustrated growl and sees movement out the corner of his eye as his sister and Tyler look at him.

 

He gives them an apologetic smile and a wave and they go back to what they were doing. Immediately he rings hi lawyer and gives them the run-down of everything that had happened.

 

Having dealt with Dave previously, at least the solicitor was aware of the way the man worked and he demanded to see the document, contract and all correspondence between the singer and ex-manager. He also wanted Jools’ number so he could ring her and find out what she had to say.

 

“I haven’t said anything to her though, is that a problem?”

 

“No, that’s probably a good thing,” Jamie tells him down the phone. “Let me feel things out and see what she says. You are absolutely certain you never signed this?”

 

“Jamie, as soon as you see this email and the letter you will agree there is no way I would have signed this,” Dan confirms and adds a slightly maniacal laugh at the end.

 

“Fine, fine. I believe you, I do. Once this is done thought Dan, we really need to sort this man out,” his lawyer says, clearly now as frustrated as Dan with the whole mess.

 

“Dude, seriously, you think I don’t know that?” the singer says, slightly more casually than he would normally considering who he was talking to, but he was so over this whole situation.

 

Saying goodbye, hanging up and immediately forwarding everything onto him, Dan at once starts to feel calmer. Everything was now in the hands of the right people and what was better is the man actually believed him! He was beginning to get extremely fed up with people not believing him at every turn. He had always been truthful and was in fact an awful liar, which is why he tended to leave everything as vague as possible to _avoid having_ to lie at all.

 

The last thing he wanted to do before he finished for the morning and went to check on the progress of the students, was twitter. He hadn’t looked at Laura’s feed since that night and he wanted to see if anything had changed since Kyle admitted his memory was back.

 

He logs in and automatically uses Lucian’s twitter picture to go and check the girl’s feed. She still had the private security on her page, and he started going through her recent tweets. They were all vague and cryptic in ways that if you weren’t aware of what had been happening you wouldn’t understand at all.

 

One though was confusing even to him.

 

_“appointment today. Hope everything is alright”_ and it was followed by a crossed fingers emoji.

 

There were a couple of likes and a few good luck messages from people who obviously knew what she was talking about. Making a decision he hits the reply tab and starts to type:

 

_“hope everything is alright and nothing too serious”_

And he sends the reply, not expecting anything back. Almost immediately two notifications pop up to him – one to say his reply had been liked and one to say she had replied.

 

_“thanks! Yeah, nothing serious! Hopefully good news!”_

Is all it says and Dan’s interest is piqued even more. Deciding not to push anything too far he just hits the heart icon and files it away as something to check later.

 

Closing the lid and putting it back into his bag, he walks over to the door and opens it up, surprising the teens as they were hard at work.

 

“Anywhere near finished?” the singer jokes with them and Tyler just flushes bright red with embarrassment.

 

“Mate, don’t worry! I had no idea what I was doing when I started. Fuck I still don’t!” which earns him a slap from Ella as she passes with her phone, ringing loudly with some Taylor Swift song.

 

“I hate that song!” he shouts at her as she heads out of the main door.

 

“I don’t care!” she shouts back as the door slams behind her.

 

There is silence as Dan and Tyler awkwardly look at the floors and the walls – in fact everywhere other than each other. Tyler clears his throat loudly, causing Dan to look up at him.

 

“So have you always wanted to be a singer?” Tyler asks him out of the blue and Dan looks at him, surprised.

 

“Uhm, I don’t know,” he says finally. “I love music. I love writing songs and stories. I suppose it was a given really. Too much music in my house not to end up doing something with it,” he finishes, with that typical self-deprecating look he always seemed to wear whenever people wanted to know about him. Normally he would deflect, send the question to Woody or Will – or Kyle if he looked particularly bored – but this time it was just him and a kid wanting to know how to get started. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

 

“What about you? You always wanted to do this?” He asks the teen in return and he nods quickly.

 

“Oh yeah! I love how music is made, but I can’t play anything at all. I’ve got an alright voice, but nothing like you. I love your stuff, really and can’t believe that I’m here, and spending time with you.” He smiles softly and glances over to where Ella had escaped with her phone. “And Ella is pretty awesome too,” he adds quietly and Dan huffs a laugh.

 

“Yeah, remind me some time to tell you some stories about her that might change your mind,” he jokes and finally gets a proper smile and laugh form the other guy.

 

At that the door opens again and Ella walks back in looking sheepish, and putting her phone in her pocket.

 

“Errr, DC?” she asks sweetly, and Dan already knows that he isn’t going to like what is coming next.

 

“What?” he says sharply and narrows his eyes.

 

“Did you mean it when you said we could do whatever we wanted this afternoon?” she asks him, clearly trying to hedge the way to ask something he wouldn’t like.

 

“Ye-es,” he says slowly, eyes still narrow and suspicious.

 

“Well can we all go and have lunch together somewhere nice?”

 

“Where?”

 

“Down in Canary Wharf?” she asks, in a sing song voice.

 

“Why the fuck do you want to have lunch in Canary Wha –“ Dan stops mid-sentence as he realises what she is hinting at. “No. No titch, I’m not doing lunch with him.”

 

“Danny please?” she pleads with him and does the wide eyes that both of the Smith children are so good at. “You said we could do anything, and Tyler will be there, and it’ll be in a public place, please?” and continues to look at him and grabs his good hand with both of hers.

 

The silence stretches out in front of him and Dan realises that he had a big choice to make. He could do this and be the bigger man and see exactly what would come of it, or he could be as pig headed as the man in question and completely ignore everything.

 

He takes a big deep breath in and lets it out in a long sigh.

 

“Fuck. _Fine_. Let’s go and see dad for lunch.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so hopefully this will ease some people's concerns...
> 
> Please enjoy xx

Chapter Twenty Eight

“I still don’t know why we can’t go to Nando’s,” Dan whines to his sister as she leads the way off towards the closest tube station to the studio.

 

“Because Dad chose the restaurant and that’s where he wants to eat,” Ella explains and stops in her tracks.

 

All three stand in the white tiled entrance to the station, just before the ticket barriers. She stares at the full wall size tube map on the wall and then glances at the white board next to it to see the current delays and works on the line before looking back at her brother.

 

Dan is standing with his hands on his hips glaring at her. His happy mood from the morning has long disappeared and he is getting more and more frustrated as time goes on.

 

“So you know this better than me,” Ella says pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the map. “How do we get there?”

 

Her brother looks at the floor to the side of her feet for a few moments and lets the steady flow of passengers move around him. He hears a few angry huffs as he doesn’t move at all. Finally, he stuffs his hands in his denim jacket pockets and sighs loudly.

 

“Northern line, then Waterloo line,” he grumbles, and pulls his wallet out of his pocket.

 

Tyler and Ella get their tickets from the machine and then they all three make their way through the turnstiles to join the blistering heat of the underground system.

 

—

Getting out of the station finally and into fresh air after the claustrophobic and stale atmosphere of being deep below ground, Dan breathes in deeply. Ella looks at him closely and takes in the image in front of her.

 

His easy smile from the morning had disappeared and he now looked tired again and had paled despite being in the heat of other Londoners. He had his normal jeans and his new NASA t-shirt on that she had bought for him and had his blue denim jacket over. He had his normal horn rimmed glasses on and a black cap on his head, but he was moving so slowly now that Ella could see he was trying to waste as much time as possible.

 

She didn’t want to laugh, but she could imagine her own father looking and feeling nearly exactly the same way. The two were more similar than either of them would ever admit.

 

Dan walks as slowly as his long legs can handle. He doesn’t want to see his dad, and he knows he’s being like a child but he still hurts after what was said to him when he walked out. He knows exactly how Kyle feels with his family, because he already feels the same with his mum and dad.

 

He watches as the wooden ramp over the water comes into view as he walks towards the restaurant and he tries - and fails - to walk slower.

 

Vespucci’s is his dad’s favourite place to eat. He has been taking their mum there for dates for as long as Dan can remember, and the number of lunch receipts he has seen fall out of the man’s suits over the years is ridiculous.

 

With it being a mild autumn day, there is a large group of business men grouped together at the outside seating area, all with cigarettes lit and drinks in their hands. Dan inches around the large cloud of smoke and is left to take the lead by walking first through the large glass door into the eatery. He walks towards the maître d’s podium and the girl there gives them a welcoming look before clearly recognising Dan’s face. The man watches her face go from recognition to full on fangirl, and not wanting to be bothered with anything like that right now, he quickly gives her his surname and turns back to make sure his sister is still following him.

 

The girl clearly got the message as she slides easily back into a somewhat professional manner and leads them towards a large booth table in the corner. Like the rest of the decor, the seats were in a Heather grey velvet, and the tables were what appeared to be solid oak. Dan sees his father is already there and quickly slides in opposite him, leaving Tyler and Ella to decide which sides they wanted to sit on.

 

Tyler quickly slides in beside Dan and Ella next to Mr. Smith and Dan immediately picks up the menu in front of him to study it and avoid his father’s scrutinising gaze.

 

“Ella, honey, it’s so good to see you! Was everything alright while you were away?” The man asks his daughter kindly, and Dan rolls his eyes behind the menu and prays that a waiter or waitress would appear soon to take his drinks order.

 

As if someone was watching down over him, a man in his early twenties appeared from no-where with a tablet and stylus and asked if they wanted anything to drink.

 

“Espresso Martini,” Dan says immediately, and he can feel the glare from his father through the cardboard he was holding.

 

All of the others ordered soft drinks and water for the table and the guy walks away with a smile.

 

“And Tyler! Good to see you again, son,” his father goes on to greet the teen and Dan hears a mumble in return, and scoffs that there is someone who he speaks to less than Dan.

 

Silence resumes over the table. Dan watches Ella from the corner of his eye and sees her getting more and more pissed off with her two family members.

 

“Oh, for crying out loud,” she hisses and tugs the menu from Dan’s hands and slams it on the table in front of him.

 

Neither of the Smith children had taken after their mother - something that Mrs. Smith always joked about. Instead of picking up the wrong baby at the hospital, she always said her husband brought home the wrong mother. This was never more true now as two sets of identical azure blue eyes look at the young girl in surprise at her outburst with the same dumbstruck look on their face.

 

Dan chews at the side of his mouth and stares at his fingers for a moment, before adjusting his position and absentmindedly putting his cast on the table.

 

“What the hell happened to you?” Mr. Smith exclaims and reaches out across the table to take his sons arm and inspect the cast.

 

Dan rolls his eyes and lets the man look at his hand before pulling it away from him.

 

“Nothing important. Dad, what do you want?” He says to him shortly.

 

The older man looks shocked at the bluntness of his son’s question and looks away from him as if he is trying to come up with a perfect answer. Dan looks at him for the first time, and sees his hair has a bit more grey in it compared to the last time he had seen him and his usually jovial face was now gaunt. His blue single breasted pinstriped suit was slightly too big for him now and Dan could see that his large frame had waned ever so slightly.

 

“I just wanted to catch up, see how things were going,” Mr. Smith finally says to him, looking anywhere but at Dan directly.

 

“Well, you could have rung me you know?”

 

“Would you have picked up?”

 

Dan doesn’t say anything at that. Truthfully, he can’t answer it. Especially if had been in the past two weeks. He sighs deeply and his drink arrives, so to avoid saying anything he takes a long sip.

 

“A little bit early for that isn’t it?” His dad observes and Dan scowls back at him and purposely takes another drink.

 

“So have you changed your mind?” Dan says to him finally, feeling quite proud of himself for keeping his voice steady and getting straight to the point. The elder man was clearly not expecting the outright question and Dan sees him startle when he hears it.

 

“Have I decided that he wasn’t wrong with what he did? No,” the man starts and immediately Dan stands up from the seat and pats his pockets before picking his bag up to throw it over his shoulder.

 

“Well then, there’s nothing else to talk about is there,” he says and starts to walk away from the table, before a hand grasps him tightly around the wrist and jerks him backwards.

 

He knows without even looking that it is his father’s hand and even with him being as angry as he is with him, he can’t automatically ignore him.

 

“Will you let me finish? If you want to be treated like an adult, will you listen to me like an adult?”

 

Dan immediately feels his hackles rise. He can write songs, travel the world, play in front of sold out audiences and be his own manager, but his parents clearly still see him as a twelve-year-old.

 

Nevertheless, he does sit back down opposite the man and looks at him with his eye brows raised expectantly.

 

“I have my concerns with what happened with Ella,” and Mr. Smith is cut off again, this time with a small clearing of the throat from the youngest Smith. Dan flicks his eyes to her and can see she is looking awkwardly between the two of them and then at Tyler and Dan immediately understands she doesn’t want the young man to know the exact ins and outs of what they were discussing.

 

“I know you do and you were told exactly what happened there. I trust both of them and believe what they say,” Dan says snappily, shutting that argument down quickly. “If there’s nothing else?”

 

“And I am still unhappy about these rumours going around about his actual orientation,” the man continues as if he hadn’t heard his son. Dan groans loudly enough for his father to hear the frustration that sentence alone was causing him.

 

“Look, dad. Kyle _is_ bisexual alright. Yes, he has dated girls in the past, but he’s also dated guys in the past! He didn’t make this up just to sleep with girls, and neither did I!” Dan stops mid flow and takes a breath before looking directly at his father again. The other man is sitting, calmly taking in everything his son is saying to him. Dan can’t tell if he believes any of it, so he lets the breath out and starts speaking again.

 

“Margaret told you all of this didn’t she?” he says, trying to choose his words carefully and trying not to let his disgust of the woman shine through his words. The surprise on his dad’s face told him everything he needed to know. “Look, I can’t tell you everything right now about _why_ you shouldn’t believe her, but you shouldn’t. Sharon has even walked away from her and she is _still_ causing trouble for the rest of us. Ninety-nine per cent of anything that comes out of that woman’s mouth is poison and a lie, so please can you believe me when I tell you she’s causing this trouble?”

 

He finishes his monologue and sits back in his seat. He hadn’t actually realised how close to the table and his father he had leant until he relaxed. He had tried desperately to get all of the earnest emotion through his words and into his dad’s head. He watches as the dark haired South African contemplates his words and weighs them up in his head.

 

“Alright,” he says finally and Dan looks up into his eyes again; his gaze having dropped when the silence went on for longer than he was anticipating. “I’m not happy about the lying and the deception – and I expect you _both_ to come and see your mother and explain this all to her – but right now…I’ll believe you.”

 

The words take a while to sink into Dan’s brain, and even after they do it is as if he can’t quite believe what he has heard.

 

“I’m sorry?” he asks, confused and actually wanting to hear the words again.

 

“Daniel, don’t push it,” his father says to him with a warning tone. Dan smiles shyly at his father and chuckles slightly. He knows that is as close to an apology as he was ever going to get from the man and he nods his head in understanding.

 

“So you’ll be coming back home this weekend DC?” Ella chips in quickly and smiles at her brother.

 

“Uhm…I’ll need to speak to Ky, but possibly,” he says to her. “I suppose I should really move my car from the station,” he adds and laughs at the fact it had been sitting there for a number of weeks now.

 

“Your car isn’t at the station,” his dad tells him quickly, as he points at the name of the dish he wanted, now the waiter had finally noticed a lull in the serious family conversation and come to take their order.

 

“Huh?” Dan says dumbly at the comment.

 

“How do you write those songs with a vocabulary like yours?” Ella asks snarkily. Dan ignores her.

 

“I brought your car back to the house. It couldn’t stay there indefinitely.” Mr. Smith tells him and Dan bites back the feeling of anger.

 

“You touched my car?” he chooses to say, as calmly as possible.

 

“What I actually believe you meant to say was; ‘gee, dad, thanks! I can’t believe I was stupid enough to leave it for so long in a car park where cars are getting vandalized and stolen nearly every night!’ “

 

Dan goes silent and flushes with embarrassment as he opens his menu and asks for the Chicken Arrabiata. He felt the weight being lifted off of his shoulders at the banter between them all and he can’t help but smile.

 

\---

It was close to six in the evening when Dan finally pushes the door to the flat open and he is blasted with the heavy bass and screeching chords of Muse’s ‘Uprising’ as he enters the living room.

 

He automatically realises that Kyle must be home and in a bad mood, because this is the only time he listens to loud music like this. Either that or a very bad burglar was attempting to rob them.

 

He walks up to the smart speaker which had made its way into the kitchen, and twists the top to turn the music down. After a process of elimination, he wanders into the bedroom to find his best friend lying on the end of the bed with his legs hanging off of the end of the bed with his hands over his face. He doesn’t move as Dan enters and sinks to the carpet and rest his back against the end of the bed.

 

He wraps his hand around the younger man’s lower leg and leans his head against it to let him know he was there when he was ready to talk. Dan sits with him in silence and he listens to the music change to Imagine Dragons in the kitchen and still waits for any movement from Kyle.

 

Finally, he feels a twitch in the leg and he moves quickly as Kyle slides off of the end of the bed to sit next to Dan. Immediately he gravitates into Dan’s arms and the singer makes sure he gets his arms around him and pulls him under his chin, placing small, soft kisses to his forehead.

 

“So?” Is all Dan says to him and keeps rubbing a hand up and down his back, soothing the man he loves.

 

“I’ve got a little brother.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright...
> 
> so apparently I bend to pressure. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter Twenty Nine

_“Kyle, we’ve got another brother.”_

Kyle sat on the end of the bench and stared at his sister, completely and totally dumbstruck. He tries to let the words sink into his brain, but for some reason something was stopping them from making any kind of sense and he just splutters a bit and leaves his mouth hanging open.

 

Tasha watches the scene for a moment before taking another sip of her drink and patting Kyle’s hand in solidarity.

 

“That’s where I’ve been since last night,” she says to him gently.

 

He opens and closes his mouth again, not exactly sure what he can say to the revelation. He drags his hand down his face and scratches at his pitiful beard growth before pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stave of the tension headache threatening to hit him full whack.

 

“But how?” is all that the man can come up with. He can’t get his head around the fact that no one has ever noticed anything to do with another pregnancy or child. Alright, so his family wasn’t the most forthcoming out of everyone he knew, but surely that was something that would be extremely difficult to hide.

 

Tasha shrugs at his questions. She clearly has no clue about it either, and he can see in her face that she has been up most of the night trying to figure it out herself.

 

“All that I heard was that dad was angry with mum. And mum was apologising. That was it,” she tells him more succinctly now that she had managed to drop the bombshell with her sibling. Kyle could see that she was starting to regain her composure now that she had shared this with someone else.

 

“Does Adam know?” Kyle asks her; his speech still not back to anything longer than one syllable.

 

“Nope, I wanted to tell you before talking to him. He’s been so odd since you and Dan came round for dinner that night,” Tasha explains and shrugs her shoulders.

 

“Hang on, Dan? It’s not fucking Dan is it?” Kyle suddenly jumps off of the seat and starts frantically pacing backwards and forwards in the kitchen, his hands pulling at his hair and he can feel his panic rising in his chest.

 

It couldn’t be Dan, could it? Could that be why his parents were so against him after the accident? And Adam, maybe he knew and that was why he was being such a bastard. He paces faster and faster and thinks about all of the legal and moral codes he was breaking by being with Dan, but he couldn’t let him go, he loved him too much…

 

“Kyle…KYLE!” Tasha shouts at him and he stalls mid pace and looks around him, confused at where he was as he had been completely in his head for a moment.

 

His sister is standing in front of him, and she reaches up to the hands still running through his hair and pulls his wrists down to his sides, so he didn’t accidentally hit himself in the side of the face with his cast. He looks down at her with a wide, scared expression, and she takes pity on her favourite brother and pulls him towards her to hug him tightly.

 

“I can’t be certain, but I really don’t think it’s Dan, alright,” she says calmly in his ear, and patting his back tenderly. “Just from the way they were talking, it didn’t sound like it was him.”

 

Kyle pulls back from her and looks at her face. “But you can’t be sure?” he asks her, still clearly petrified at what the outcome would be if it did turn out to be Dan.

 

“No, I can’t be sure. But I’m sick of the way they’re behaving, so we’re going to see them alright?”

 

Martin makes a whistling noise from the door. He was used to this strength from his wife and he was secretly happy to see it back again.

 

“Tash, they’re at home and I am so not in the mood to head all the way up there.” Kyle groans and rubs his face again.

 

“No they aren’t,” the woman says matter of factly. “They stayed with Adam last night, we’ll organise a meet up. Somewhere completely neutral alright? Then they might actually talk.”

 

“Alright,” Kyle says slowly, the crazy thoughts still running round and round in his head.

 

“Mart, pass me the phone,” Tasha asks her husband and takes it while hugging her brother closely again. “We will get this sorted,” she says to no one in particular and dials the number.

 

\---

Adam – being the selfless and loving person her was – refused to move anywhere outside his area of London. That was how Kyle, Tasha and Martin ended up standing outside of Wahaca in Kentish Town forty-five minutes later.

 

The Mexican street food restaurant seemed the best place for everyone to find something they might like, and it meant that anyone could walk out quickly if things got too much and no one had too large of a bill to foot at the end of it.

 

Before they head in to the old factory style building, Tasha insisted on having a cigarette to calm her nerves. She wasn’t a regular smoker, but when she was stressed she tended to start again, and if anything could make her stressed right now it was this. She holds the golden packet out to her brother to offer him one and he just shakes his head and continues to bite at the skin at the side of his nails.

 

“If it was Dan, they would have been doing a hell of a lot more to stop you two being together wouldn’t they?” Tasha says to him, trying to sound a lot more confident than she felt. Kyle noticed that she was trying for him and he smiles at her. “And you’ve said in the past how much he looks like his sister haven’t you?”

 

Kyle nods quickly, but the biting was getting worse. “Show me,” Tasha asks suddenly.

 

“Wha?” Kyle looks at her confused.

 

“You got pictures of him with his family? Show me.”

 

Kyle pulls his phone out and unlocks it with his fingerprint and loads up Instagram. He searches for Dan’s private account and loads up all of the family picture that were on it. He chooses a nicely staged photo from about four years previous, where a young Ella, innocent looking Dan and his parents are standing in front of some sort of English Heritage tourist attraction. He holds the screen out to his sister.

 

“Special K…seriously? How can you can even doubt this man is related to the rest of them?” Tash exclaims loudly to him.

 

The look she got in response was for two reasons. Firstly, for bringing out that nickname _again_ and secondly for shouting that so loudly when so many people were walking past.

 

“ _Oh my god!_ Kyle from Bastille! Can I have a photo?” comes a shriek from behind them. He looks at his sister and nods slowly.

 

“And that’s why we keep voices low in public!” he hisses to her and turns around to the teens slowly dying from hyperventilation behind him.

 

He gives them his normal smiles and greetings and a bland smile when the photos are taken – one for each of the three of them. They run off screaming loudly and he looks back at his sister. Tash is stubbing out the butt of the cigarette and turning back to him.

 

“Wow, my brother is so famous. I don’t know how I cope with it,” she says flatly and rolls her eyes at him.

 

“Shut up you,” he says, the momentary distraction and his sister’s assurance that Dan couldn’t be their brother suddenly kicking him back into gear. “Right, let’s go.”

 

\---

The three of them follow the waitress up the industrial looking stairs and into the extended seating area in the upper floor of the eatery. Sitting at the large table at the picture window is the rest of the Simmons family – with Lorraine, obviously, but also with the familiar brunette sitting there as well.

 

“Oh for fucks sake,” Kyle mutters to himself, loud enough for his sister to hear and Tasha looks up automatically when she gets to the top of the stairs and groans to herself.

 

She immediately straightens up tall – and Tasha is taller than normal, and this action makes her seem a lot more intimidating – and storms over to the family.

 

“What the hell is she doing here? I thought we talked about this, this girl is nothing to do with this family!” Tasha rails at her mother in particular, as she knows it is the matriarch who has let this happen.

 

“Tash, sit down and leave mum alone will you?” Adam tells his sister condescendingly.

 

“God talking to her like that, that’s your funeral,” Kyle says quietly to his brother, and the comment earns him a derisive look from the man.

 

“Why is he here anyway?” Adam says, pointing at Kyle with his thumb and looking at him like he was something he had stepped on.

 

“Well this was meant to be a family meeting to discuss something, and yet you’ve turned it into the meeting of the freakish fan girls!” Tasha exclaims loudly, earning a snort from both Kyle and Martin, and a glare from the girl in question.

 

“Laura is here because she is part of the family now,” Mrs. Simmons announces and looks at Kyle pointedly.

 

“How does that work exactly?” he asks his mother, genuinely wanting to know the answer to the question but knew he wasn’t going to get one.

 

“Can I get you a drink at all?” the waiter asks from behind them and takes the drinks orders from all of the newcomers.

 

“Will you three sit down please?” Mr. Simmons demands forcefully of them, and Kyle can see the angry, frustrated man he wasn’t used to hadn’t gone anywhere in his journey back down south.

 

Kyle settles down at the end of the table, as far away from Laura as he can, but soon regrets his decision as his mother and Laura change seats and he is stuck next to the girl. She automatically goes to grab his hand, which he immediately snatches away from her and just shakes his head at her.

 

The drinks are quickly brought to them and put down at the correct places and they place their orders quickly, glad to get the waiter out of the way. Kyle grabs the neck of his bottle of Sol and downs nearly half the bottle in anticipation of what was to come.

 

“So, basically if _she_ isn’t going anywhere, we’ll have to talk about this in front of her then,” Tasha starts and this attracts raised eyebrows from the rest of the table.

 

“Adam I don’t know how much of this you’re aware of, but we,” and she points at Kyle to include him in the discussion, “have found out something that mum and dad have been keeping from us all.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about Natasha?” Adam starts and is shut up with a look from his sister.

 

“Mum, I think you know what I’m talking about don’t you?” the woman says to her mother who had gone pale and her mouth now hung open in shock. In stark contrast, Mr. Simmons was now sitting back in his chair with his arms folded with a face that looked like he was about to massacre everyone in the room.

 

“Natasha, why are we talking about this here?” her mother asks her daughter quickly.

 

“Because mum you are a master at getting out of admitting to things, and we needed a place where you might actually tell us things!” Kyle cuts in, wanting to save his sister from any more hate. He was already disowned by his family, at least this way Tasha wouldn’t be as well. He gets another glare from his father for his troubles.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Adam bursts suddenly, looking at everyone around the table.

 

“Adam, we’ve got another brother, and mum and dad are going to tell us why Kyle has to suffer because of it,” Tasha says to him, now sounding every bit the older sister.

 

“What? Another fucking brother? What, now I have more people to compete with?” Adam mutters in disbelief.

 

‘Well that explains a few things,’ thought Kyle at the admission. He looks over at the girl next to him and sees the look of glee she can’t keep from her face. He rolls his eyes and huffs a disapproving noise at her.

 

Silence reigns over the family for a moment, and this gives the wait staff more than enough time to drop off nachos and a round of tacos for everyone. No one looks at the food and the younger generation – including Laura, Lorraine and Martin – all stare at the parents. Kyle drums his fingers agains the table and takes another sip of his drink.

 

“Well this is all going _very_ well,” he says sarcastically.

 

“Kyle Jonathan Simmons, shut your mouth right now,” came the response from his mother and he gives her a wide eyed look in response. He mimes zipping his mouth and locking it before throwing the pretend key over his shoulder. He makes a hand gesture indicating his mother should continue.

 

“No one brought you up to act this way boy,” his father says disapprovingly, and Kyle just snorts in response and shakes his head. “If that’s the reaction we get then I think we should leave,”

 

“No John, let’s stay,” Mrs. Simmons says quickly, and pulls her husband back down to his seat by the hand. “They know now, so we should just tell them,” and Mr. Simmons is clearly not happy with that decision.

 

“Alright, well it was a long time ago,” the woman starts the story. “It was after Kyle was born in fact. I was very low and I suppose now they call it Post Natal Depression, but it wasn’t really recognised back then.” She takes a big deep breath before continuing.

 

“We had a friend of the family who used to come around a lot and he was generous with you kids. His name was Duncan, and he was a good friend of your father’s. Well me and your father weren’t getting along well. Three young kids were hard to look after even when there were two people who were at full steam, and neither of us were that. I was feeling self-conscious all the time and had no pride in myself, but every time Duncan came round he would give me compliments, and make me feel better about myself.”

 

The woman stops her story and looks at the rest of the people at the table. Tasha’s eyes were tearing up again, clearly understanding how her mother had been feeling after having to deal with the twins. Adam was a closed book, and was giving nothing away, and Kyle was trying desperately not to ask any questions and let his mother tell her side. The woman takes a drink of her tonic water and starts to talk again.

 

“One day, Kyle, you had been taken out somewhere – to the hospital or doctor’s I think, and you two were out somewhere else. It was afternoon and Duncan came round to visit like he normally did. Well, I don’t think I need to draw any diagrams, but one thing led to another and we slept together. I regretted it immediately and told your father. Duncan never came round again and we haven’t seen him since.”

 

She pauses again to take a drink. Everyone is still sitting quietly around the table, all apart from Laura who was snacking on the nachos like she was watching a movie at the cinema. Kyle kicks her hard under the table and elicits a small scream from the girl. He smirks to himself and folds his arms in front of him, waiting for his mother to continue.

 

“It wasn’t until about 4 months later that I realised that I was pregnant. I hadn’t been careful and because of the hormones after having the baby I hadn’t known anything was wrong. And obviously by that time it was too late to do anything about it. So we did the only thing we thought was best. I went away for a while to my parents and had the baby. But then put him up for adoption.”

 

She finishes what she is saying and looks at her hands. The rest of the table all go silent as they take in everything that had been said.

 

“So what has this got to do with Kyle being with Dan?” Tasha asks finally breaking the quiet.

 

“For crying out loud Tash! This has nothing to do with Kyle! We just don’t want him to be a dirty fag that’s all!” Adam explodes at his sister and gets a look in return, which if Kyle knew meant Adam was about to get his backside handed to him.

 

“Well we know that’s not true,” Kyle breaks in quickly before Tasha can invite him to step outside.

 

“Shut up Kyle,” Adam says to him.

 

“No, Kyle’s right,” their father pipes up suddenly, breaking his self-imposed muteness suddenly. “We’ve been trying to distance Kyle from Dan and then hopefully from the rest of the band. Because of this,” he explains.

 

Kyle looks at his dad at the revelation, and he starts thinking back over everything that had happened since his amnesia.

 

“Hang on,” he says. “The kid is younger than me, and has to do with the band?”

 

He watches as his father’s face falls as he sees his son putting all the pieces together.

 

“It’s fucking Charlie.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys. 
> 
> Don't know how i'm feeling about this one, but turned out better than I expected. 
> 
> Let me know x

Chapter Thirty

Kyle fiddles with his phone in his hand and keeps anxiously checking the screen every ten seconds to see if he had had any replies to his text message. It had been only half an hour since he had typed out what he hoped was a casual sounding message to his good friend and sent it off.

 

Dan watched him like a hawk from the sofa, trying to ignore Lex leaning against his leg and attempting to kill his moving fingers.

 

“Ky, you’ll give yourself an aneurysm if you don’t settle down,” he comments lightly, trying to calm the other man down. He knew he was sounding much more casual than he currently felt. He couldn’t believe the news himself so he could hardly imagine how his lover felt about the whole situation.

 

It was such a twist of fate or just sheer dumb luck that Charlie Barnes had become part of their touring group. And for it now to end up like this was something out of the weirdest soap on television. Yes, it had been a running joke that Charlie and Kyle looked alike - and the fans were always pointing it out online – but no one ever seriously believed they were related. Well, that was clearly a mistake.

 

Lost inside his own head, he had completely missed the pot of coffee that Kyle had brewed quickly and was now drinking quickly, black and strong.

 

“Aw, babes, that’s the last thing you need right now,” Dan exclaims quickly and stands up and knocks the cat further along the sofa. He misses the disgusted look he gets from the kitten and walks into the kitchen.

 

He grabs the ‘Lannister’ mug from Kyle’s hands and puts it down on the side, before pouring the rest of the jug down the sink.

 

“But…” Kyle says weakly as he watches the caffeine drain away sadly.

 

“No! God you’re already hyped to the max,” and Kyle continues to pout at him. “Look, he said he had gigs yeah?” he continues and he glances at his watch. “It’s only just half nine, give him time to finish up and then look at his phone. Are you sure you really want to do this over FaceTime?”

 

“I need to speak to him, Dan. I need to know if he knows anything about this,” he says with pleading eyes to his fiancé.

 

Dan stares back at him, directly into the deep chocolate brown orbs in front of him. He pulls him into a tight embrace and threads his hand through the other man’s hair and strokes it as Kyle rests his forehead on the shorter man’s shoulder.

 

“Oh, baby,” he murmurs into his ear. “I’m so sorry this is happening. I don’t like seeing you like this,” he tells him softly, soothing him as much as he can.

 

This was true. Kyle was always laughing, joking and providing the fun around the group, and this was one of the main things that had always attracted Dan to him. Where Dan constantly worried about what was going to happen next, or what was the underlying meaning of any comment he received or criticism he heard, Kyle always let everything wash over him. Even this hate from his family he had taken in his stride, where Dan had always had his family problems sitting in the back of his head.

 

Before Dan is able to say anything else to help relax him, he hears the familiar ring tone of his phone going from the sofa. Kyle pulls away and frees his man to go and look at it. When Dan sees the name on the caller ID, he looks over at Kyle confused, and swipes to answer it.

 

“Charlie?” he asks down the phone.

 

Kyle looks at him, eyebrows furrowed and forehead scrunched up in concern. He watches as Dan rolls his eyes and walks over to him. Dan stands in front of the other man and holds his hand out to him, mouthing the word _‘phone’_ and raising an eyebrow. Kyle digs it out of his pocket where he had shoved it when Dan took his coffee away from him and hands it over to him.

 

Dan clicks the power button a few times and sighs loudly.

 

“Yeah, mate, he hasn’t charged it,” Dan says into the phone, and Kyle looks taken aback as he takes his phone again and looks at it himself as if he didn’t believe what had been said. Suddenly looking embarrassed he runs through into the bedroom to plug his phone in. He looks at his ginger cat on the bed, and feels judged.

 

“’s not my fault,” he says defensively to the cat and room in general and walks back to Dan to see what was happening.

 

He walks in to see the phone being hung up and he makes a desperate cry at the man.

 

“Go and get my laptop, Charlie’s Face Timing me,” Dan tells him and cuffs him round his head as he runs off to find his bag. “Seriously, you managed to live on your own?” he calls after him.

 

“No! I’ve been travelling with you for years…you keep me right!” Kyle shouts back from the bedroom. Dan chuckles at the admission, and nods to himself completely agreeing with him.

 

Wandering through after him, he finds Kyle flat on his stomach diagonally lying on the bed with his upper body propped up in his elbows. The MacBook was open in front of him and he was waiting for the screen to start ringing.

 

“Do you want me to stay?” Dan asks, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

 

Kyle looks over his shoulder at his man, and Dan’s breath hitches at the sight. He feels the overwhelming feeling from the morning again back in his chest and the love he experienced literally took his breath away.

 

“Nah I’m ok, probably best if we do this privately,” he says with a small smile.

 

Dan can’t help but walk over to him and climb on the bed, straddling the younger man’s back. He cranes his head over Kyle’s shoulder to kiss him firmly but sweetly. Kyle manages to roll over between Dan’s legs, and reaches his hands up to cup the older man’s face and deepen the kiss.

 

Kyle registers a twittering noise in the background, but is so focused on the task that had presented himself he doesn’t notice when Dan hits a button on the keyboard.

 

“Oh my god! Seriously guys, I don’t need to see this!” a familiar voice exclaims, made slightly tinny over the microphone of the man’s mobile and the speakers of the laptop.

 

Kyle feels Dan’s lips turn up into a smile before pulling away. Both men look at the screen and see Charlie’s face filling up the video call app.

 

“Sorry dude,” Dan apologises quickly with a cheeky grin, before pecking the other on the lips again and climbing back off of the bed. “I’ll leave you two to it.”

 

Kyle bites his lower lip as he watches Dan walk out the room, and pull the door too behind him. Sighing he rolls back onto his front and looks at the screen to see his _brother_ looking back at him.

 

“Hey man, how you doing,” Kyle finally asks him, trying to have that casual, normal air around him.

 

“Good mate, good! Just finished a small gig,” He says and holds a pint up to the camera to show him and Kyle huffs a laugh at him.

 

“Who’s that?” a female voice comes from behind Charlie, and Kyle sees the camera pan around to show him Sharon in the background so he gives her a small wave hello. “Kyle! Hi!” She shouts to him and the screen shows Charlie again.

 

“So what’s up mate?” Charlie asks him, obviously keen to relax after his show with his girlfriend.

 

The silence seems to drag on for years and for mere seconds at the same time as Kyle chews at the inside of his cheek trying to choose his words carefully.

 

“Uhm…you know that conversation we had a few months ago about your parents?” he starts and Charlie’s face darkens almost immediately.

 

Dan didn’t know any of the details apart from that Charlie and his own family had had some problems. But Kyle, well Charlie had bared everything to him over the phone one night when it had gotten really bad.

 

The short version of the story was that his parents had gotten fed up with Charlie not wanting to settle down for a ‘normal’ job somewhere and during a heated argument they had revealed to him that he was adopted.

 

Charlie had been completely surprised by the revelation and had totally crumbled. Kyle was unsure whether he had even told Sharon about the entire episode, so he wanted to do this on Charlie’s terms.

 

“Aw, mate do we have to go into that right now?” Charlie asks him, conveying discomfort through his eyes to Kyle. Kyle felt awful about doing this, but he needs to tell him everything he knows and it can’t wait.

 

“Charlie, I think there’s something I need to tell you about it, so can we?”

 

Charlie contemplates the camera, and Kyle sees automatically the thinking look that he himself has used so many times when he was conflicted. It strikes him again how stupid he was for not seeing the obvious family resemblance sooner.

 

Charlie rubs his hand quickly over his eyes and down his face before looking at Kyle.

 

“Fine. Give me one minute.”

 

The phone gets placed down somewhere, and all Kyle can see is the ceiling of whatever back room Charlie is relaxing in. It reminds him of the crappy venues that they used to play at back when they first started playing together. He hears mumbling in the background as Charlie says something to the other people in there with him. He hears the unmistakeable sound of the door closing. The phone is picked up again and the screen shows the man sitting on an old overstuffed sofa with his girlfriend next to him. Alright, well he was doing this with Sharon as well.

 

He looks at the tight lipped smile Charlie gives him down the camera and as the silence continues, the man raises his eyebrows in anticipation. All words seem to escape Kyle in that second, and he can’t think of a single thing to say.

 

“Charlie, you’re my brother,” he blurts out, and automatically squeezes his eyes closed in embarrassment in the way he just announced it like that. He hears a thudding noise on the other side of the door, immediately telling him that Dan was standing outside the door listening and he had clearly just hit his head against the wall in embarrassment himself.

 

Opening his eyes, he sees the man’s open mouthed face in front of him. The facial expression goes from shock, to anger and then finishes on complete confusion. He forehead furrows and his green eyes start looking blankly around him. He brings his hand up to his mouth and keeps it there. Sharon finally breaks the silence.

 

“Kyle, I think you’re going to have to explain this a little more?” she says calmly, and he can see her stroking her boyfriend’s dark hair.

 

Kyle gives them the story he had been told that afternoon and he watches as Charlie visibly deflates on the screen in front of him.

 

“So…I suppose that explains why my dad was such a bastard to you,” he finishes up and looks at the man on the laptop again.

 

There is quiet again and all three look at each other, not quite knowing what to say.

 

“Kyle, I can’t talk about this right now,” Charlie finally announces and the screen stills and hangs up.

 

Kyle feels his own face fall at the action. He didn’t want to upset him, but he needed to tell him as soon as possible.

 

“Aw fuck!” he groans and rolls onto his back, placing his hands over his eyes again.

 

Dan enters the room and gets on the bed and curls into his man’s side closely. Kyle sighs and wraps his own arms around Dan to hug him tightly.

 

“Well I fucked that up,” he comments and laughs mirthlessly.

 

“Give him time. It’s Charlie. He’ll come round.”

 

“I love you,” Kyle mumbles into Dan’s head, and kisses the soft dark, fluffy hair.

 

“Love you too, ya idiot,” Dan replies and they fall asleep wrapped up in each other.

 

\---

The silence and stillness is broken the next morning by the opening notes and word to Pompeii.

 

Both men jerk awake and sit bolt upright. Kyle notices his phone I the one lit up and he groans.

 

“I’m actually going to destroy Woody one of these days,” Kyle mutters angrily as he unplugs his phone to see the screen.

 

The screen is filled with Charlie’s green eyes poking up above a Furby. The photo always made Kyle smile, but this time he quickly swipes to answer it.

 

“Charlie?”

 

_“So…do I get to meet my other brother and sister too then?”_


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, a little bit of a filler chapter before the last one. 
> 
> If you want more you better tell me! I have ideas, but need to know.
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Thirty One

Over the next few days, Dan spent his time in the studio, still trying to get hold of his assistant and dealing with his lawyer.

 

The solicitor had managed to get Dave’s lawyers to stop the release of the single while they sorted out the apparent ‘misunderstanding’ between the two, and Jools had been in touch to say she was taking some ‘personal time’ for herself and she would be off for the next week or so. Luckily for her, her contract allowed her a degree of sick time, so there was nothing that Dan could do until she returned.

 

As for Kyle, his days were filled trying to organise a suitable place and time for his siblings to gather for the official meeting of them and Charlie.

 

“Aw this is literally impossible!” he frustratedly exclaims on the evening of the Thursday, and he throws his phone over the room to its normal resting place when he felt like this – the pot of the cheese plant.

 

He had been alone all day and he had been playing an intense game of ‘text message ping pong’ with his older brother for the best part of four hours. Tasha had been simple. She was up for congregating and getting to know Charlie as soon as was actually possible, but Adam – being Adam – decided he didn’t want to do it in public, in any space where Kyle might be comfortable or in any place where Charlie might have the upper hand – whatever that many mean; Kyle wasn’t exactly clear on this.

 

Dan wandered through from the bathroom in a t-shirt and boxers, drying his hair with a hand towel and slipping his glassed on the end of his nose.

 

“Still no further forward?” he asks, glancing over at the foliage in the corner before picking up the handset and dusting the soil off of it.

 

“Nope,” Kyle replies, popping the ’p’ obnoxiously.

 

“What’s the excuse this time?”

 

“No excuse. He doesn’t have to come up with a place right at this moment, because he has to take ‘choir practice’,” he tells the singer and rolls his eyes skyward, almost getting them suck back there and using literal air quotes.

 

“It’s seven at night and a school choir. What school choir practices at seven at night?” Dan asks incredulously.

 

Kyle snorts, shakes his head and looks at his phone with ire. Dan snatches it out of his hand before he realises what is happening and quickly types in the passcode.

 

“Dan! Give me my phone back!” he cries childishly.

 

“Give me my phone back!” Dan mimics in a high pitched voice, earning a raised eyebrow from the younger man.

 

“Seriously?”

 

Dan smirks and raises the phone to his ear. There is silence between the two of them while Dan listens to the dialling tone.

 

“Kyle, I told you I’m busy, I can’t talk about this just now,” a grumpy, grumbling voice comes down the phone, and Dan can here the falsetto tones of an obviously young choir warming up in the background.

 

‘ _Huh,’_ Dan thought. _‘So he is at choir…’_

“Adam, it’s Dan!” the man almost sings in a falsely happy tone down the phone, faking as much cheerfulness as he could. He keeps talking quickly as he hears a deep breath being drawn in, Adam obviously about to say something to get him off of the phone. “Look, quick call really. We’re getting together at my parent’s place this weekend. Kyle will send you the address and time and if you can come, that’s awesome. If not, next time maybe. Gotta go! Bye!”

 

With that he hangs up quickly and throws the phone back at Kyle who catches it one handed. He wiggles his eyebrows at his lover and Kyle stares back with his mouth wide open.

 

“Your parents place?” Is all he can say, surprised at the announcement, but even more so at the uncharacteristic forcefulness of his fiancé.

 

“Yeah, I spoke to mum today. Dad wanted me and you to go down and ‘have a meeting’ to clear the air, so she suggested this weekend. Thought we could go down tomorrow and then maybe everyone can meet there for the first time. Neutral ground and not in public.”

 

Kyle looks at the older man lovingly, with a wide smile on his face.

 

“You know you are brilliant right?” he compliments him and Dan flushes red.

 

“You know, I think you might have mentioned something like that once or twice,” he replies, but Kyle knows how embarrassed he is with that kind of compliment.

 

“S’pose I better ring Tash and Charlie then huh?” the keyboard player announces and starts to tap at things on the screen again.

 

\---

For the rest of the evening the two men decided to relax together. It felt like old times again, before any of the drama had started to unfold around them. The packed a small bag each and put them next to the front door and Kyle went online to Domino’s to order pizza. He showed the order to Dan before hitting the button to send it and - like always – got a kick out of seeing Dan’s face turn almost purple with anger as he sees that Kyle has added triple pineapple to both.

 

“Mate! What the fuck? You hit your head again, you know I hate that fruity shit on my pizza!” and Kyle listens for the millionth time since he has known him, Dan ranting and raving about how pineapple does not belong on pizza. And for the millionth time, Kyle still doesn’t understand his reasoning but nods along anyway for a good proportion of it before he can’t hold it in anymore and bursts out laughing.

 

“You did that on purpose didn’t you?” Dan suddenly says.

 

“Aw mate you are far too easy,” Kyle retorts, still smiling at his best friend.

 

“I hate you,” he says and pouts.

 

“No you don’t,” Kyle replies and saunters towards him, swinging his hips lightly.

 

“Yes. I do,” Dan tells him again, but doesn’t back away from the incoming man.

 

“Well, what can I do to make it up to you?” Kyle murmurs softly, getting to the shorter man and placing his hands on his hips. He leans in and Dan feels his breath glide across his ear, sending shivers all the way down his spine and directly to his dick.

 

Kyle’s long, agile fingers quickly slide underneath the dark fabric of the t-shirt he had on and hooks under the back of the boxer’s waist band and Dan leans backwards into the touch, not caring how needy it made him feel.

 

“Knew you didn’t hate me,” Kyle whispers again, and chuckles deeply.

 

“Shut the hell up and kiss me, you bastard,” Dan says angrily and pitches forward to attach his own lips to the other mans.

 

Dan groans as he feels the roughness of the beard rub against his face, a feeling he hadn’t realised he had missed so much, but now Kyle’s facial hair was starting to reappear he knows he can’t live without it.

 

Dan feels himself being walked backwards toward the sofa and he gets pushed down into a sitting position, before Kyle straddles his thighs and gets the upper hand again and starts to control the kiss. He licks into the singer’s mouth and deepens the kiss so fully, that by the time he is pulling back, Dan is more breathless than he is used to.

 

No words are spoken, just heavy breathing and gentle hums and whines as the kissing continues, before Kyle pushes Dan onto his side and back down onto the sofa. He continues to tower over him as he gazes into the singer’s lust blown, almost black eyes before manhandling him onto his front ad lifting his hips into the air.

 

“Ky…!” Dan breaths out, but Kyle quickly silences him by pressing the heel of his un-injured hand into the straining erection in the boxers of his lover. Dan groans loudly at the unexpected contact, and doesn’t even acknowledge when Kyle pulls the underwear off of his hips and lets the pool at his knees where they are kneeling on the couch.

 

Kyle runs his hands over the mountains making up his man’s spine and nips and bites a trail of love bites down to his hips, being rewarded with a moan of pleasure at every bite and suckle.

 

“I need to taste you,” He whispers, so quietly Dan doesn’t think he hears him properly, but before he is able to question the other man, he feels a flat, wet sensation against his puckered hole, and all thoughts of questions and clarifications flee from his mind.

 

“Oh, my, god…Ky!” he whines, almost embarrassingly as the wetness and heat get heavier and heavier, before Kyle’s tongue points and starts to thrust in and out of his entrance quickly and with vigour.

 

Their moans start to compliment each other, as Dan start to rut back onto his lover’s tongue, wanting to feel him further and further inside. Kyle withdraws his tongue and starts to lick around the hole again, whilst simultaneously rubbing at the smooth, sensitive skin between the hole and Dan’s balls.

 

“Oh, fuck, god Ky, please…”

 

“What? Baby, what do you want?” Dan hears the pet name and knows that Kyle calls everyone that, but in this situation, just the two of them with Kyle drawing out all of these sounds from him, he knows that this is a special name, just for him.

 

Kyle takes in the wrecked form of his man in front of him. Dan was gripping onto the arm of the sofa for dear life, and his head was leaning on it between his hands. He was trying desperately to get some friction on his rock hard dick and was moving almost unconsciously now that Kyle had withdrawn.

 

“Will you please fuck me already?” Dan manages to gasp out, and Kyle laughs.

 

“Well seeing as you asked so nicely,” he replies, and Dan gasps as he feels the tip of Kyles cock poke at his entrance.

 

He could feel it was wet and slick and when did he do that? Dan thought about this for a moment, but as soon as he felt his lover push all the way in with one thrust, he groans and grabs the sofa for dear life as he feels the fantastic burn and stretch that reminds him how much of him Kyle owns.

 

“Oh crap Dan,” Kyle swears loudly as he stills, letting the older man get used to the intrusion before moving.

 

When the thrusting, moving and slapping of skin on skin starts, neither man lasts long. Yes, they had given each other orgasms and made each other come since Kyle got his memory back, but this was the first time that Kyle had claimed him like this and both men had missed it immensely.

 

When they had both come and the high was starting to recede, Dan faintly realises that Kyle has gotten off of the seat and he returns very quickly with a wet cloth to clean the other man up.

 

“Hmmmm,” Dan says as Kyle cleans him.

 

“What?” Kyle smiles at him and leans down to press a soft kiss to his temple.

 

“I love you,” he says, contentedly and Kyle huffs a laugh.

 

“Love you too baby,” and he throws the cloth on the pile waiting to go into the washing machine.

 

There’s a knock at the door and Dan looks sleepily towards it.

 

“Pizza,” Kyle say to him.

 

“Had you already ordered it?” Dan asks and Kyle just gives him a look as if he should stop underestimating him.

 

The front door is opened, and Kyle takes the pile of blue and red boxes from the kid there who seemed a little bit confused when he saw who opened the door. Kyle thanks him and shuts the door in his face before turning back to the couch.

 

“So chicken or pizza first?”

 

\---

Friday morning comes quickly after that. Dan manages to talk Kyle into watching Twin Peaks again while they were eating the previous night. Kyle had spent nearly the entire time with his knees and feet up on the sofa and in front of his face. He played Candy Crush to pass the time and he tried to desperately ignore the creepy events happening on screen. Dan spent the time secretly sniggering at him from the corner of his eye.

 

Needless to say that come the morning, Kyle had been kept awake the entire night having creepy midget dreams, now featuring Laura as the up-front star, and he woke up feeling cranky.

 

They managed to find and assemble the battery operated cat feeders which had been used only once since Kyle had bought them – one of the perks of having a sister or parents who could look after his cats for him.

 

They grabbed bags and head towards Charing Cross to get the train down to the country and see the Smith Family together and both men were feeling quite worried about what was going to happen.

 

Getting into the carriage for the train journey was fairly simple. They didn’t need to reserve seats for the relatively short journey, and the train was pretty empty as it was one of the first to head out after rush hour so they had missed any business users – not that heading out of London during rush hour was ever really a big problem.

 

Kyle quickly dropped off to sleep with his hat over his eyes. Dan laughed at the sight. He was wearing his ripped blue jeans and a pair of his high top Nike’s with a black Best Laid Plans tank top under a red, white and blue checked shirt.

 

When he had bought the shirt, Dan had told him it was a girls’ one, but Kyle hadn’t cared and told him that if he had catered for men who wanted the tanks, he wouldn’t have to buy girls stuff.

 

Dan chuckled at the memory and opens up his mobile phone to the twitter app to check out what was going on.

 

He immediately goes onto his stalking profile to see what Laura was up to and was jerked back to reality at the tweets that had been posted.

 

_@kylelovesme96 - @charcharbas I have such amazing gossip!_

_@kylelovesme96 – amazing gossip for all stormers! Kyle has told me (top secretly) that another Simmons is in the band! Pillow talk is awesome!_

He feels the anger rise up like the bile I his stomach. He has never wanted to hurt another person as much as this girl and it wasn’t just jealousy. He can’t believe he hates any woman nearly as much as Margaret, but damn it was getting close. Finally, he immediately stops at a post he almost scrolled right past.

 

_@kylelovesme96 – I’d like to tell everyone that we will get a special delivery in another 9 months!_

 


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, well this was meant to be the last chapter, but it would have been epic if I had it all in the same one. 
> 
> Next chapter should be the last one for this part...all being well!!
> 
> Please enjoy x

Chapter Thirty Two

“Ky!” Dan hisses to his fiancé. “Kyle! Mate!” he shoves his arm and Kyle jerks awake, sitting bolt upright and Dan watches as his hat goes flying across the carriage with the motion.

 

Kyle sits in the same position for a moment with his eyes wide and darting around him to take in his location. He had clearly been in quite a deep sleep and was really disorientated waking up. Despite the seriousness of what he had found, Dan can’t help but snort with laughter.

 

“Mate that was not funny,” Kyle huffs as he stands and walks over to where his hat had landed on the floor of the filthy train carriage. He slaps the top of it to get the dust off of it before putting it backwards on his head.

 

“Don’t care, sit down I have to show you something,” Dan tells him and Kyle stands on the seat before sitting down, legs curled up underneath him.

 

“Right, well I’m stalking Laura,” Dan says quickly and tries to continue talking, but Kyle interrupts.

 

“Nononono! Babe you don’t get to drop that bomb and carry on as if nothing happened,” the man tells him. “Explain…” and he gestures with his hand for Dan to fully explain what he means.

 

“Fine. I have another account on twitter and I stole one of Luc’s pictures. She accepted my follow so I’m now following her on twitter,” Dan explains to him, proudly and embarrassed at the same time.

 

“Wow! Look at you being all CSI!” Kyle crows at him and grabs the collar of his denim jacket and pulls him forward to kiss him forcefully on the lips. Dan pulls away and straightens up his clothes, brushing off the compliment.

 

“Yeah, whatever, have a look at this,” he mumbles and hands the iPhone over to the other man for him to look at.

 

Kyle’s smile slides off of his face as he scrolls through the time line and he gives the phone strange looks at certain points, which Dan can only assume are the tweets that have clearly something to do with him if you were to know the situation. He watches as the younger man mouths ‘pillow talk’ to himself and Dan knows he is getting close to the bombshell.

 

He watches as Kyle continues to scroll down through everything, then he notices the exact second that the words register with his lover and watches as he starts to scroll back again. He watches as the man’s eyes go even wider as he reads and the re-reads the tweet announcing an arrival in nine months.

 

He puts the handset on his lap and looks blankly at nothing for a good thirty seconds before he does something that not even Dan was expecting.

 

The hysterical laughter filled the coach and the few people that were sitting in there with the couple look over at them in surprise and Dan slaps him lightly on the arm so Kyle realises how much noise he’s making. He quickly looks around at the others and notices they have all returned to whatever it was they were doing before Kyle interrupted the silence.

 

Returning to look at the other man, Kyle has both hands over his mouth and is trying desperately to smother his giggling. The effort is entirely unsuccessful. Dan is dumbstruck at the hilarity that is emanating from Kyle’s entire being. He smacks him around the top of his head next to try and make him take the whole thing seriously.

 

“Ow!” Kyle says, but continues to laugh as he looks at the singer. “What? Oh, come on Dan, this is actually hilarious!” he says, still trying to stop the laughter.

 

“No it’s not! She’s saying she’s pregnant!”

 

“Exactly! Hilarious! What’s she going to do in nine months when there is actually no baby?” he asks, incredulously and starts to giggle again.

 

“Kyle, this is serious! She’s clearly insane!” Dan exclaims to him, causing the keyboard player to laugh even more.

 

“I know! Because why the hell would she want to be obsessed with me?” he retorts. “I’m not lying on twitter, you know that! I am seriously not to be trusted!”

 

Dan scrunches his face up at that comment. He has told Kyle a number of time how much he disagrees with his own self-assessment, but Kyle will not believe a single word he says.

 

“I trust you,” Dan says quietly, slightly upset and Kyle notices straight away.

 

“Oh god, not you guys! You guys know how to take me. These kids just see me how I want them to see me…and if they want a sarcastic git who makes fun of everyone, I feel a bit sorry for them.” He leans over to his man and pulls him under his chin.

 

“I don’t feel sorry for Laura,” Dan grumbles into Kyle’s chest, which brings more laughter bubbling from the man.

 

“Yeah, well I don’t feel sorry for Andy,” Kyle replies gently and plants a kiss on his head. “Or Charlene or whatever her name was. They have a crush on you, so they clearly have taste.”

 

Dan pulls away and looks up at him with a small smile on his face, before mimicking making himself throw up at the comment.

 

“Shut up, Daniel,” Kyle says, faking anger. He folds his arms in front of him and refuses to talk to his best friend for the rest of the journey.

 

\---

Arriving at their destination, they get a taxi to the Smith house. Kyle and Dan both needed some time to get their feelings and thoughts straightened out before they all got together, even if Dan’s parents had told Dan that everything would be fine.

 

They get out of the mini-van cab and Kyle pays the driver while Dan gets their back packs out of the back seat. They wait for the car to drive away before looking around them. The large heavy front door was half open, and the glass porch door was sitting waiting for them to walk through it.

 

Dan looks over at his fiancé and sees a degree of apprehension in his eyes. He reaches over and grabs the man’s hand in his and twines their fingers together, squeezing softly. Kyle looks back at him and smiles a small frightened smile.

 

“It’s going to be fine, baby,” he tries to reassure him. He walks over to stand in front of the taller man. He takes his free hand and brings it to Kyle’s face to trace the thin, but growing facial hair.

 

He cups his hand around the side of his face and reaches up to kiss him softly on the lips, and he feels Kyle immediately melt into the touch and tenderness he showed him. Kyle returns the kiss, but it is only lips, neither man wanting to deepen it on the driveway of the house where an important meeting was about to take place.

 

“When you two are quite ready,” comes a female voice from behind them. The two automatically break apart and both look at their shuffling feet as Mrs Smith stands in the doorstep looking at them with a fond smile on her face.

 

“Hi, mum,” Dan says, flushed from embarrassment and excitement. He slowly walks over to his mother and before he knows what is happening he is drawn into a bone crunching hug.

 

“Don’t you ever do anything like that again!” she scolds, smacking him around the back of his head. Kyle tries desperately to hide his smirk from the family. He hasn’t moved and is still standing in the drive. “You know I would have calmed him down!” Kyle can here Dan trying to placate his mother, despite seeing he knew what she was saying was rubbish. Dan had always been to the one to keep the peace.

 

“And you, Kyle Simmons!” She suddenly rounds on the younger man, storming over to him and also smacking his shoulder the same as her son earlier. “Getting hit by a bus? What are you insane? Did no one ever teach you how to cross the road properly? Come here,” she finishes and proceeds to perform the same hug on him.

 

Finally pulling away she walks back towards the house. “Both of you get in here and eat, then you can go and relax. There will be no more talk about what happened,” she rambles as she walks in, holding the door open for them and expecting them to follow.

 

Dan looks over at Kyle with a small apologetic smile on his face and raised eye brows. “See, told you,” is all he says.

 

Kyle stands there with his mouth wide open and all he can think of is the way his family had been behaving recently.

 

“Why are my family so _weird_?” he cries to his partner, who just scoffs and grabs him round the waist to take him inside.

 

\---

The rest of the afternoon and night passes without a hitch. Dan and Kyle are taken to a local restaurant for a meal that evening with Mr and Mrs Smith and Ella and she also brings Tyler along with her too. Their first date had been as soon as they returned from Manchester and had gone brilliantly. They were now acting like honeymooners, and the young man couldn’t keep his hands off of her.

 

Kyle and Dan had both had to dress up to go for the meal that evening and both men were extremely uncomfortable in what they were wearing. They both had black tight suit trousers on – Dan with brown dress shoes and Kyle with black. Kyle’s look was topped off with a black shirt, no tie and black dress jacket. Dan had decided to wear a white shirt with grey suit jacket. Both men looked smart and had caused Mrs. Smith to gasp in delight and take photos, but by the end of the meal and on the journey home, all they could do was imagine how happy they would be when they could get the clothes off – and in a completely non sexual way. Both men glanced at each other in the car and could see they were both thinking exactly the same thing which made them both giggle like children.

 

Getting back to the house, the two men say goodnight to the rest of the family and almost race each other back to the cabin to change and get some sleep. Taking turns to get ready for bed in the bathroom, Kyle sits on the bed to wait for Dan to finish what he was doing. He feels a vibration from his phone and pulls it out of his smart trousers pocket and looks at the notification.

 

_Really? – Will be getting in to the station at 9:45. Pick me up_

“Fucking hell!” he exclaims louder that he was meant to. Dan’s head literally pops around the side of the door to look at what had made Kyle so surprised.

 

Kyle gives his phone to his partner as he heads to the bathroom. He strips his shirt quickly and sheds his trousers as he walks through the living room, leaving the offending articles on top of his bag which was in the large bathroom.

 

He runs the tap and cups his hands under the running water and throws it over his face to freshen himself up, before squeezing toothpaste on his toothbrush and walking back through to his fiancé.

 

“Who’s ‘Really?’?” Dan asks when Kyle walks back into the bedroom, furiously brushing his teeth.

 

“Dddum,” comes the garbled reply, Kyle frothing at the mouth as he continues to brush, but the effect making look like he was some sort of rabid animal.

 

Dan was used to this by now. For some reason Kyle hated staying in the bathroom on his own when he was getting ready for bed. He complained he felt ‘lonely’ and needed to have someone around him. Most nights Dan was now subjected to his lover’s oral hygiene regime.

 

“Huh?” Dan asks, not understanding what Kyle had just said. Kyle holds up a finger and rushes back into the bathroom. Dan hears the swill and spit, followed by the running of the tap. The water shuts off and the man reappears in front of him quickly.

 

“Adam,” Kyle repeats, much more clearly.

 

“Why is he called…? Actually, no I don’t think I want to know,” he stops himself before asking the obvious question. Kyle shrugs and knees on the end of the bed with him.

 

“So apparently he’s coming then?” Kyle says simply. “I have no idea how I’m going to get him.”

 

“I’ll go,” Dan offers. Kyle looks at him suspiciously. Dan hates Adam, so why would he offer to go and get him.

 

“What are you planning?”

 

“Nothing! Just want to spend time with my future brother in law!” Dan says, the innocent look on his face completely belying the intention behind his words.

 

“How can someone with such an evil mind look so innocent?” Kyle asks him incredulously, but feeling the spark of pride in his chest.

 

“Years and years of practice,” Dan replies with a cocked eyebrow, and Kyle leans in to kiss him deeply.

 

 


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right guys. Sorry this has taken so long (for me anyway!)
> 
> I know it's in the tags, but there is a lot of homophobic language in this one, so please be warned and take care. I really hated having to write it, but it fit with the character and the story. 
> 
> xx

Chapter Thirty Three

Kyle is woken up the following morning by music coming from the living room. Dan had put on the speaker system while he was getting ready, which was already weird for a number of reasons. Firstly, Dan was up before Kyle – and had apparently woken up without grumbling _or_ moaning. Secondly, if music was on it meant he was happy, something else that rarely happened first thing in the morning.

 

Rubbing his eyes and then running his hand down his face to straighten up his facial hair, he rolls out of the bed in his Calvin Klein boxers and pulls a blanket around his shoulders before walking into the lounge. He leans agains the door frame and just watches as Dan shakes his hips where he is standing, with his myriad of hair products in front of him on the kitchen island with a handheld mirror. He is murmuring the words to the - even if Kyle says so himself – extremely camp disco music coming out of the speakers, and trying to get his hair to sit concert ready. Kyle smiles to himself and he walks over to his lover, wrapping his arms around his waist and hooking his chin over his shoulder.

 

“What the hell is this you’re listening to?” he whispers into the older man’s ear, and he feels the shiver run through his man’s body at the feeling of his breath when he talked.

 

“Lucian’s finished product,” Dan murmurs and relaxes his head back and leans agains Kyle. “He actually took some of my ideas.”

 

“Well, why wouldn’t he? You’re a genius,” Kyle says matter of factly, and can feel Dan’s face flush with embarrassment. “You are far too happy for this time in the morning. Who are you and what have you done with Daniel Campbell Smith?”

 

Dan smirks at him and shifts in Kyle’s arms so that he is now facing him. He kisses him forcefully on the side of his mouth, and Kyle whines as he goes in for more and Dan escapes his grasp.

 

“Morning breath,” Dan says to him and Kyle grabs his chest, feigning being hurt at the comment. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have the time!” He adds and takes a final look in the mirror at his hair before looking at Kyle with his hands out at his sides.

 

“How do I look?” he asks, with an expectant look on his face.

 

The singer was wearing pretty much everything he would normally wear on stage, and with this ‘costume’ Kyle knew he felt a lot more confident in himself. He had his nice black jeans on with his all leather, black hi top converse. His top was his current favourite black long sleeved t-shirt with the roses on the sleeves, and they were rolled up to his elbows, and above the black cast on his right arm. Kyle contemplates the man in front of him carefully.

 

“I’d do you,” he says finally with a nod, and then smirks and sticks his tongue out at his lover.

 

“Excellent, but you’re a sure thing anyway,” Dan jokes back and reaches up to kiss him on the end of his nose.

 

“Why are you dressed up all nice to pick up Adam anyway?” Kyle asks and picks up a stray apple that was sitting on the kitchen surface before taking a big bite out of it and sitting on one of the metal bar stools. He winces when he feels the metal against the back of his bare legs.

 

“I just want to be all nice and friendly, and make a good impression, that’s all!” Dan says with a slight glint in his eye and the widest fake grin Kyle had ever seen.

 

“You’re going to hit on him aren’t you?” Kyle asks, almost bored and looks into his man’s eyes.

 

“No!” Dan exclaims, almost too quickly and forcefully. He gets a raised eyebrow in response. “OK…a little bit, but come on! He’s an arsehole and I want to try and get him back for you and Charlie! If I can make him uncomfortable…”

 

Kyle interrupts him with a quick apple tasting kiss to the lips before pulling back.

 

“Mate, I don’t care! Hit on him! He’ll hate it. It’ll be funny,” he laughs lightly at the thought. “But wait until I can see some of it will you?” he asks, almost pleadingly and Dan’s eyes start to twinkle with mischief again.

 

“Deal.”

 

\---

Dan parks at the train station and gets out of his Audi. He crosses his arms and leans against the passenger side as he waits for the train to arrive at the stop.

 

The weather is typically autumnal. All the leaves have been blown off of the surrounding trees and the road and pavements are covered in a blanket of golds, browns and oranges. The sun has yet to fully rise in the sky, but it is overly cloudy so Dan doesn’t expect to see much of it today. His eyes are still trying to adjust to his contacts, with the overcast haze making them drier than he would like. He manages to fight the urge to scrub them until the itch has gone.

 

He is there surprisingly early and has to wait for five minutes until a train arrives from the London direction, pulling in and letting a small crowd of passengers off of it. He watches as the group start to walk up the steps and over the foot bridge. He is able to see Adam easily, with him being almost head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.

 

Adam gets to the bottom of the steps and Dan sees something he wasn’t expecting. Another man he didn’t recognised walked up and slaps his future brother in law on the shoulder and looks out into the carpark for Kyle. Dan expected Lorraine to accompany him to the meeting, but not a stranger.  All of Dan’s plans fly out of the window as he takes in the man.

 

He is relatively tall, but not nearly as tall as Dan, and he is slight, but clearly muscular in his upper body. He has a brutish look to his face – his nose had clearly been broken a number of times and he seemed to breathe through his mouth as a normal thing. He had a white baseball cap in his head, but Dan could see that his hair was closely cropped. The clothes he is wearing is what makes Dan almost burst out laughing. He is wearing a completely light grey fabric tracksuit – a grey pullover hoody on top, with the tails of a white cotton t-shirt just visible under it. The trousers were a sight to behold. They were light grey Adidas tracksuit bottoms, with the skinniest ankles Dan had ever seen – and this is a man who lives almost exclusively in skinny clothes. What made this outfit even worse were the dirty all white air max Nikes he was wearing on his feet, with white gym socks visible.

 

Taking a big deep breath in, and feeling like something he didn’t like was about to happen, he pushes off from the side of his car and walks towards the pair.

 

“Adam!” he calls, trying to be friendly and waving his left hand in the air to catch his attention. He jokes sedately over to where they were standing.

 

He gets an annoyed look from the older man and he whispers something to the man he was with before walking towards Dan angrily.

 

“What are you doing here? I thought I asked Kyle to pick me up,” he grouses as he walks straight past the singer.

 

“Uhm, well he doesn’t have a car and he doesn’t feel comfortable driving with a cast, so I said I would come and get you,” Dan explains to him as he tries to discreetly direct the two men towards his prized possession. He receives a grunt from the man in response.

 

Silently all three get into the car, Adam in the front seat and the still as yet unnamed man in the back.

 

“Before we go anywhere, you want to introduce me…?” Dan finally asks the man next to him.

 

“Oh, yeah, well. I thought that Kyle had… _you,_ ” he says and waves his hand at Dan as if he was a piece of dirt, “and Tasha would have Martin, and he would have…whoever,” he says with the same tone, and Dan assumes that he meant Charlie. “So I thought I would bring a friend with me who had my side. This is Mike.”

 

Dan looks into the back seat and sees Mike look at him with a mixture of intrigue and disgust. He had a bad feeling about the man, but he supposed he had to take him back to the house, so he starts up the car.

 

“This is a sweet ride mate,” Mike says in a heavy cockney accent and Dan nods in thanks. “Surprised you can afford this though,” he adds and Dan looks at him in the rear view mirror, confused.

 

“Sorry? I don’t think I understand,” he says, politely at the man and indicates to pull out of the car park and onto the main road.

 

“Well you being unemployed and all,” Mike adds and Dan chokes back a laugh.

 

“Yeah, well not unemployed, Mike,” Adam says giggling, as if there was a joke Dan wasn’t in on. “Just not good at what he does,” and both men laugh at what they clearly see is a hilarious joke. Dan says nothing and sits in silence.

 

The two men in the car pretty much ignore Dan and chat between themselves for a few minutes, before Adam suddenly remembers something.

 

“Oh, Mike! I just remembered, we have got this amazing song that I have found. Hardly anyone knows it and it’s perfect for the choir to do,” he gushes to his friend. This was the first time that Dan had ever heard him talk about music, so he was interested to know what his taste was.

 

“What is it?” he asks conversationally and he is greeted with a glare from Adam.

 

“You won’t know it,” he scoffs. “It’s by a guy called M. Crew,” he carries on, and at the name Dan chokes slightly and starts coughing as he drives. He raises his eyebrows and just nods as if he was intrigued. “It’s based on a TV show you won’t have heard of about the murder of a young girl.”

 

_‘Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t say anything, just stay calm and cool and let him run his mouth,’_ Dan thinks on a loop over and over in his head.

 

“And there’s another one by the same guy which is about an English Astronaut staying in a hotel…” Adam carries on.

 

“Hang on, _what_?” Dan interrupts quickly earning an irritated huff and a glare from the man in the back.

 

“Can I hook up my phone to your stereo? I want to let Mike hear this music,” he asks snidely. Dan looks at him in shock, but taps a few things on his dashboard and finds Adam’s Samsung S8 to hook up.

 

“I’m going to need an explanation about what you just said,” Dan asks again and gets a glare in response.

 

“Seriously Smith, shut up and play the music will you?” Adam says viciously and Dan puts one hand up in a ‘surrender’ pose and clicks buttons until the music starts to play.

 

Dan recognises it immediately as the music to Laura Palmer but there is no singing on it at all. He assumes it is the backing track that has been ripped off of YouTube and he starts to listen carefully to the chord progressions and beats that he knows so well.

 

Completely unexpectedly, Adam starts singing along. Dan listens for a few lines and actually appreciates his talent. He has the same bass undertone that he loves so much in Kyle’s singing voice, but has a more classical tone to it. It is a singing voice clearly made for a choirmaster.

 

That is until he gets to the bridge.

 

_“If you had your gum,_

_Would you spit it at the sky?”_

 

Dan turns to the man, mouth agape and listens until he finishes. Mike claps at the end and there is silence as the track completes.

 

“Uhm” Dan says quickly, and two heads turn to him. “Are you sure you got all those words right?”

 

“What would you know about it gay boy?” Mike asks angrily from the back. “He’s the one who knows the song,” he adds.

 

“Well I was just wondering why they would sing about gum?” Dan asks levelly, trying to keep his composure.

 

“They’re teenagers,” Adam says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Teenagers chew gum.”

 

Dan opens his mouth to try and argue again, but he notices that the man next to him is fiddling with his phone and he hears the music of Lethargy starting.

 

“This is the other song,” he tells Mike and starts singing along again. And again, it was all going well until...

 

_“You checked out years ago,_

_What I’d do in a lobby like you...”_

 

Dan mentally face palms at the ridiculousness of what the older man was singing. He debates for the rest of the song whether he wants to hear the theory behind it, and as he turns into the driveway, he makes a decision that, yes, he needs to know.

 

He turns the car off and opens the door to stand in the large open space. He hears faint piano music coming from his studio, and before he can ask his brother-in-law to be any questions at all, he starts walking over to the music room to see what the noise was.

 

He gets closer to the building, and as the door is open he can hear the higher octave of Glory being played, and he knows it’s Kyle. He stands in the doorway and watches as he plays the keys - albeit a bit slower than normal because of his cast - with his tongue poking through his teeth and a look of pure concentration on his face.

 

Without realising it, Dan’s feet are pulling him towards his man and he finds himself towards the keys as well and starts to play his own part to accompany Kyle. The music flow from both of them like it has so many times previously, and Kyle barely flinches when the second set of hands joins his own and plays the lower part with him.

 

When the singing starts, the juxtaposition of Kyle playing the higher scale but singing the lower octaves is and Dan the opposite, always gives the singer a tingle down his spine. He is so proud of this song and what it stands for that they both manage to lose themselves in the poetry until the song is finished. Silence follows for a beat while the two of them return back to the present. They turn to each other with beaming smiles.

 

“Just wanted to see if I could play,” Kyle explains without being asked and shrugs lightly.

 

Dan cups the younger man’s face and pulls him towards him for a soft, but passionate kiss but is cut off after barely their lips had touched by a disgusted noise.

 

“Oh fuck, he really is gay! God Ads, you weren’t lying, I just thought he was girly as fuck!”

 

Dan closes his eyes in frustration and pinches the bridge of his nose. When he opens them, Kyle is on his feet and halfway to Mike before Dan stops him.

 

“Ky! Don’t,” he says and Kyle spins on his heel and looks confused at his fiancé.

 

“Yeah, **_Ky_** , do what the faggot says,” Mike sneers at him, and Dan gives him a stern look, causing him to stop dead.

 

“Mate, this is my parents’ house. Don’t use language like that here. You’re here to support your friend so let’s keep it that way and zip it yeah?”

 

This silences any retort from the man, as he wasn’t expecting the mild mannered driver to be so outspoken or confrontational. He opens and shuts his mouth a few times, before Adam appears.

 

“Oh so this douchebag is with you?” Kyle asks his brother and points at Mike. Adam just nods and shrugs as if to say ‘yeah, so?’ Kyle snorts and shakes his head.

 

“Adam, before I forget, can you sing that last song again for me? It sounded...interesting,” Dan changes the subject, half wanting the anger to stop and half wanting to laugh at the idiot in front of him.

 

Adam preens at what he perceived was praise of his singing and he turns his funny phone speakers up. Kyle walks over to the seat again and as he hears the music he opens his mouth today something. Dan kicks him in the shin to stop him from ruining anything.

 

Kyle grabs at Dan’s hand in a last ditch attempt to stop from laughing as he clicks on to the fact that Adam doesn’t know who sang the song originally, let alone who wrote it and Dan can feel his fingers almost snapping as the older man sings completely the wrong words again.

 

As the song finishes, Dan look contemplative and then just says, “now are you sure you’re singing about a lobby?”

 

Stifled giggles come from the keyboard player and Dan bites at his lip and tries to look innocently at the other singer, ignoring his lover.

 

“For god’s sake. Yes, I am! Who are you to question the writer? The man in space is checking out of his hotel for a long time away,” Adam sighs in frustration, as if he is now trying to explain it to a toddler.

 

Dan and Kyle still as they contemplate what Adam has said to them. They glance at each other out of the corner of their eyes and continue to think about it.

 

“I don’t know if I’ve been around him too much, or whether that actually makes some sort of sense?” Dan mutters to Kyle, and Kyle just nods in agreement.

 

\---

Thankfully they are not left alone with Adam and the homophobic idiot for long. Although in the time they are alone, Dan and Kyle enjoy riling both of them up with innocent but flirty touches with each other, and when Kyle calls Mike ‘baby’, the look on his face would keep the couple laughing for years to come.

 

Charlie was clearly uncomfortable when he arrived. He had obviously brought Sharon with him for support, and when Natasha finally arrived, she had brought Martin and the twins too.

 

It seems the partners and friends – apart from Mike – had all had the same idea, and when everyone had appeared, Dan, Sharon and Martin excused themselves and the twins run after their father when they were called.

 

“Mike, come with us please?” Dan asks and the older man looks at Dan as if that was the last thing he was going to do.

 

“We need to give them space, so will you come and grab a drink please,” Dan asks again, still politely, but with a clear threat underpinning the words. No further words were said, but the thug followed eventually, leaving the four siblings alone together to go into the cabin and talk.

 

No one knows what was said while they were in there, and it nearly two hours has passed by the time they emerged. Tasha was holding onto Charlie around his waist and smiling like the cat that had got the cream and Kyle was beaming too. Adam was still the only one who was frowning and clearly upset, but as that had by now become his default setting, Dan didn’t even bother to ask what was wrong.

 

He walked up to the group as they approached and stood before Charlie and Tash. He takes in the shy, smiling face in front of him, and can tell immediately that Charlie is relaxed and happy. He grins at him and pulls him into a bone crushing Smith hug, and receives a squeeze in return.

 

“So we’re gonna be brothers too?” He asks, pulling away and punching him on the shoulder.

 

“Looks like!” Charlie replies and sticks his tongue out at him.

 

“Good. Always been your number one fan anyway,” Dan replies and kisses him on the cheek before tackling Kyle forcefully and hugging him tightly. He gets a kiss to the temple in response.

 

They start walking back to the decking area where they had been huddled underneath the gas fired patio heater with teas, coffees and cakes and settle down. Kyle drags Dan down onto his lap, and Charlie does the same thing to Sharon and the couples both share the large wicker sofa. Dan’s parents make their excuses and head inside and Ella continues to entertain the youngsters with Tyler, who had also made an appearance.

 

Everyone sits in a semi comfortable silence while coffees and teas are poured for the newcomers.

 

“Well this is all very domestic isn’t it,” Mike pipes up and gets a snort from Adam in response.

 

“What do you mean?” Tasha asks him, confused.

 

“Well, just three couples all happy and all that,” Mike explains. “I don’t know what’s going to happen though,” he adds cryptically.

 

“What do you mean?” Sharon echoes Tasha’s earlier question and Charlie rubs her back, obviously noticing his girlfriend’s anger with the stranger.

 

“What he means is what’s going to happen when Dan finds out about Kyle’s secret love child,” Adam interrupts and there is a gasp from everyone. Dan huffs a laugh. The sound was almost pantomime quality.

 

“No love child Adam, me and Dan know what she’s saying,” Kyle says, almost bored with the conversation.

 

“You sure about that, _bro_?” Adam asks him and both of the men look over at him.

 

“Yeah, think I would have remembered sticking it in _that_ ,” Kyle says crudely, and earns himself a slap from Dan.

 

“Memory must not be all back then, mate. She’s definitely pregnant.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well thats the end of this one. 
> 
> As always, let me know if you definitely want me to continue...I don't want to be flogging a dead horse!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. If you have any comments, critique, suggestions, please let me know and comment below xx


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